At The Popular Art Centre in Al-Bireh, Palestine, we were facing a very uncertain future when the continuing Israeli occupation re-ignited the Palestinian Intifada (Arabic for 'Struggle') in September 2000. The number of Palestinian civilians (including many children) killed and wounded in just the first few weeks by the Israeli army and settlers was proportionately more than the number of Americans killed and wounded during the entire Vietnam War, and it was obvious that worse was to come. In a community that was suffering greatly, there was an urgent question: What should we, as artists, do?
The major goal of the Popular Art Centre had, for more than decade, been the fostering and preservation of traditional Palestinian music and dance. With the Israeli military closing whole cities, villages and refugee camps and the daily and nightly bombardments, these cultural activities abruptly halted. As dance and music are associated with celebration in Palestinian culture, it was understood that any public performances, however well-intentioned or supportive, would offend rather than serve. 'People are being killed on the streets, how could you think of dance?!' became a well-worn phrase.
Nobody in the society was immune to the random slaughter. The effect was very debilitating, and day-to-day choices suddenly seemed much more limited - either go out and protest directly against the Israelis and possibly be killed or wounded, or close the doors and sit inside and watch it all on television. Women and men who had once been highly motivated to perform a myriad of productive activities in the community suddenly found themselves struck impotent. The need for creative activity had never been greater, yet the usual channels for it were closed.
Children were amongst the worst affected. Almost all after-school and social activities had been cancelled, the television carried almost continuous images of the daily carnage, every community included children who had been very publicly killed or wounded by the Israeli soldiers, every family included parents who could not reach their workplaces because of the Israeli military blockades. Normal, creative growth was paralysed and yet another generation of Palestinians would lose the optimism of a clear childhood, and with it the hopes of a healthy future for Palestine. Creating some relief directly for children, therefore, became our most urgent objective.
Providing Activity
In the beginning, our only concern was providing activities. We started by offering Just For Kids days in the Popular Art Centre, giving arts workshops and live shows for free to local children. The reaction was very encouraging, with people and businesses throughout the West Bank enthusiastically volunteering their time and resources for the chance to be involved in something constructive, and hundreds of children came to have fun and release tension.
Very little was happening outside the larger cities at that time however. Within the villages and refugee camps (where hundreds of thousands of children live in overcrowded, impoverished conditions), fun, structured activities rarely took place. So our Just For Kids/Our Kids projects started focusing on these children, and every day our workshop leaders travelled to the more remote refugee camps and villages scattered across the West Bank.
There still remained much uncertainty as to what would be the most beneficial arts workshop model for children in these conditions. Every day all of us were seeing the horribly torn bodies, and all of us were being subjected to the harassment and humiliation of the occupying Israeli soldiers at the numerous checkpoints. Sleep rarely passed undisturbed by the relentless shooting and bombing. Was it wrong, during an arts workshop, to just ignore this and try to pretend everything was normal? The children's expressions were filled with images of the surrounding violence, and already from within the communities two familiar models for children's artistic activity had emerged - 'Therapy Art' and 'Intifada Art'.
'Therapy Art'
The main goal of such 'Therapy Art' is the psychological unravelling of the children's tensions and confusions, through creative activities followed by an analytical discussion. Art would be used to express the problems, fears and reactions to the ongoing violence, and then these issues would be probed by the group to bring these concerns out into the open.
Precisely what is really the most appropriate or productive way of analysing and discussing the content of an individual's expressions (during an ongoing siege situation) remains subject to much debate, however. Moral, spiritual or emotional guidance through such a disturbing period is a process, which requires a committed sensitivity and knowledge of each child to ensure a positive effect.
So whilst alleviating psychological problems remains a worthy goal for psychologists, counsellors and social workers, 'Therapy Art' (with it's analysis of emotional content) seemed like something we dancers, musicians and actors were eminently unqualified for. Yet we still possessed very powerful abilities to use our art forms as a means of communication.
'Intifada Art'
Taking the therapy ideal to broader social issues, 'Intifada Art' similarly sought to relieve the community's pain by creating work that glorified the resistance. 'Intifada Art' was by far the most popular form of expression already existing across the Occupied Territories when the Just For Kids/Our Kids workshops first started going out. Most children's artistic activities were dedicated to the production of images of Palestinian martyrs and the Intifada itself, capturing moments of oppression and resistance, then communicating them to a wider audience.
Such arts activities did not liberate all the expressions contained within the children however, and their imaginations remained focused on a cluster of familiar ideas and topics. Perpetually confined to such a small room, the creativity they used in these expressions also remained limited.
'Technical Development'
Added to these two arts activity formats already existing in the community was a third potential format for arts workshops (one that the working artists/arts teachers were more familiar with)- skills training in 'Technical Development'. The basic goal of a 'Technical Development' arts class is the improvement of skills necessary for excellence in music, dance or drama etc. Involving technical exercises in a certain style, such as classical ballet or traditional Arabic music, these classes are designed for people already possessing a dedicated interest in the style.
Most of the children participating in these activities had had relatively limited experience in the arts, many had never seen a theatre play or used a musical instrument. Learning musical scales or stylised dance steps and striving for the children's technical improvement in an art form that they may not encounter again for a long time was therefore a futile exercise. With so many children and so few opportunities to be involved in a workshop, inspiring within each child the desire to continue their own exploration of art became, therefore, the most important quest.
A New Direction
To uncover a direction that we felt would be both truly worthwhile for the children and challenging for us as artists, we started questioning why art exists in the first place. What does art provide for a society at any time, in fair winds and foul? Whilst there are endless answers to this question, a short list emerged of four of the most important social values that art fosters in a community: Creativity, Communication, Co-operation and Continuity.
Creativity, communication, co-operation and continuity can become early victims in a conflict, as expressions become polarized and opportunities limited. But by going into each workshop with 'The development of the child's individual creativity, communicative skills, sense of co-operation and ability to continue on' as our objective, art suddenly became a hugely useful servant and highly motivating. There was a tangible goal, we could see the results immediately and the children became very engaged and inspired.
We compiled a manual, 'Art, During Siege' (with English and Arabic versions), which defines the methodology used by the project to achieve these goals of creativity, communication, co-operation and continuity through art, listing hundreds of practical arts games and exercises.
Whilst Palestine has very distinct problems, the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip are by no means the only troubled societies on the planet. The world is full of communities that are hurting, communities seeking to improve their creativity, communication, co-operation and continuity. Fortunately the world is also filled with artists and volunteers motivated to alleviate this suffering. We hope that our constructive experiences here in Palestine can be transferred to you through the 'Art, During Siege' manual, and that many more children and adults around the globe will gain a certain freedom from their surroundings through the arts.
If you are interested in receiving a performing arts workshop manual for young people in traumatised communities contact Nicholas Rowe. Email nomaddance@hotmail.com