Using art as a way to have a deeper and more meaningful conversation across conflict.

1. The Art of
Transformation:
Widening the
Perspective for a
Deeper Conversation
Presented to Creative Arts
Sub-committee
June 17, 2022
Lisa Singh

4. She stood in front of me
Icon of a past passing
Jagged edges screaming
Of loss and change
In the heat of the moment
A reminder of what had been
And may be
She was not alone
Fallen companions lay strewn
Across my path
Pretending to be normal
A new not normal
Guardians of the universe
Powerlessly watch as we dismantle
And then ask, how did this happen?
And the trees wait to drown
In putrid air as we fail
Finalizing the fatal fall.
/lisa

5. Christine Sun Kim’s The Sound of Temperature Rising Forever. The heavy smog in the images is a
combination of both the usual LA pollution and the lingering smoke from the Bobcat fire that is still burning in
the national forest near the city. Photo: Ian Byers-Gamber.

7. The Ground Truth Project Film by Nichole Sobecki and writer
Laura Heaton
The film is now the centerpiece of an impact campaign to spark
conversation about how irreversible climate change is leading to
instability, conflict and migration.

9. Conversation is
art…
 The facilitator or mediator is an artist in
the design of a conversation
 Using art as a starter, the
facilitator/mediator can help open up
the conversation using an art form and
then weave other forms of art into the
conversation as it continues in order to
help people have a safe way to conduct
difficult conversations

10. To design a
conversation or prepare
for a mediation
 Determine in advance what the issues are
 Match the art form to the needs of the
conversation, not to direct it, but to stimulate
thought. Let art be in the place of a strategic
question. Let art be a format in which to create
awareness and help serve as a format for the
conversation to unfold
 Then determine if there is a possibility of using
art in the center of a conversation to deepen
the conversation and help transform the
conversation to a positive resolution

11. Examples of how I use art to help people find
their way to transform their conversation
 Using art and pictures as we did in the opening
 As an icebreaker with pictures or artwork around the wall and letting people see the pictures
and choose one that speaks to them the most. Then having them say how it spoke to them
 Using Theater of the Oppressed to create image theater or create a scenario from the
conflict and then act out a resolution, having the participants suggest different resolutions
 Having participants create an image of what resolution looks like, helping them combine
their images into one image, and finally working together to create a plan of action
 Or perhaps the next video to bring people into a mindset of setting an action plan in place

13. I encourage
curious
confrontation:
Facing differing ideas
and mindsets with the
desire to investigate
and learn

14. And
movement
Away from silos to big
picture thinking