Breathing Life into the Ashes: Resilience, Arts and Social Transformation - PWIAS Inaugural Roundtable Final Report

Abstract

This report summarizes the themes, components, results and projected impacts of the first PWIAS (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies) international roundtable held in October 2012. The roundtable brought together 20 artists, scholars, and conflict transformation practitioners from around the world to: explore and deepen understandings and experiences of individual and collective resilience; develop an infrastructure to strengthen the resilience and the legitimacy of the Social Transformation via Arts (“STA”) field; and advance understandings of assessment and evaluation in STA.

In the report, the authors include a discussion of advance goals and planning, roundtable experiences, and ongoing effects of the roundtable based on the original application, feedback, experiences, and reports from participants. They also highlight ongoing related scholarly activities and research initiatives. Throughout the report, the authors refer to PWIAS roundtable objectives and how these relate to their achievements and their impact both among participants and with wider audiences.

Keywords: Resilience, Social transformation, Arts