T

he contemporary art scene in Indonesia and Southeast Asia is alive and vibrant and the importance of art and culture is widely recognized.

Also when it comes to challenging experiences and political difficulties, art and culture are excellent vehicles to overcome disagreements or deal with conflicts.

By including artists in the public debate and by giving them an opportunity to express themselves, they contribute to recognizing cultural diversity, increasing tolerance and paving the way for dialogue.

On Nov. 20-21 the Jakarta Biennale, the Embassy of Denmark in Indonesia and the Danish Center for Culture and Development are hosting a seminar on the contribution of art and culture in peace and reconciliation processes.

Taking place at Gudang Sarinah, the seminar brings dedicated scholars, artists, arts and development managers from Indonesia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Australia, the US and Denmark to Jakarta to share their experiences with art and culture as a response to conflict.

As civil conflict has killed more civilians than interstate conflict in Asia over the past 20 years, there is a growing need to address conflicts in new and innovative ways in order to prevent escalations and establish lasting peace.

Based on our collective experiences with using art and culture as a stabilizing force in post-conflict situations, we have initiated a close cooperation to contribute to peace and reconciliation.

The overall aim is to give people the platforms, the courage and the means to express themselves and call for peace and human rights.

Poetry, theater, dance, film, music and painting are diverse and strong mediums to raise awareness, share traumatic experiences as well as visions for the future within a small community or with a wider audience.

Moving beyond the divisions between people is essential to overcome conflict and ensure lasting peace.

And art and culture hold the ability to break down invisible walls and divisions between people by providing the means to release traumas of the past and creating space for dialogue.

A new study suggests that the ways in which art and culture contribute positively to peace and reconciliation efforts are many: Poetry writing helps victims of war to overcome trauma, film screenings open up for dialogue in conflict-affected communities, story-telling legitimizes memories from a painful past, and visual art expresses feelings and adds nuances to prevailing ideas.

By hosting this seminar and welcoming dedicated scholars and artists from Asia and beyond who are all striving to facilitate dialogue in order to build peace it is our objective to support international stakeholders in further consolidating democracy and governance and to advocate for participation and conflict solving through dialogue.

We wish to inspire everyone to engage in arts and culture and to respond to conflict with peaceful means.