They were united by Ternopil and the desire to build peace

30 unique views on peacebuilding from different parts of eastern Ukraine, people, who could hardly meet in ordinary life, traveled a long way and gathered to participate in the workshop "Creating Peace through Art" in order to realize their aspirations in practice. The event took place on February 11-14.

Thus, moving in the direction of building a creative dialogue on socially important topics under the guidance of trainers, participants of the workshop accomplished incredible things in four days – they created their first works of art. This process was not easy, and at the same time, the trainers' careful support of participants on the way to understanding that "The art is what was created by your own hands" was exciting and inspiring.

Emotions of creative fervor and productivity accompanied the group throughout the workshop. Trainers prepared numerous practical exercises, during which everyone had the opportunity to reconsider and reevaluate their creative abilities and their influence on others. A balanced variety of theoretical material and exercises contributed to a deeper understanding of the role of art in peacebuilding and the possibilities of its impact on the society.

The main goal of the workshop was to create conditions for the development of conflict resolution skills using artistic techniques. There were clear instructions, which brought more clarity to actions on each step. And, at the same time, participants noted that for all of them it was a challenge to work in small groups, because this way it was necessary to find the utmost mutual understanding on a particular topic. Otherweise, how can you create peacebuilding messages when there is no dialogue in your team?

A separate point must be made that during the workshop trainers' approach to communication with the group was noted: their openness, creativity in the selection of exercises and flexibility in the interaction with the group. In our opinion, this is one of the secrets of the outstanding success of this workshop, after which participants can say: "Yes, we woke up" and "I know where I can apply the acquired knowledge right away, when I come back home".

By the way, during the "Creating Peace through Art" workshop in Ternopil, an exhibition of collages interpreting modern socio-political challenges was prepared and resented. The next exhibition of these collages will begin to work very soon in the city of Berdiansk in the public space "Chas Ye". Anyone can visit it – both residents and guests of the city.

The event was held in the frames of the "Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Ukraine – Step Forward" project, implemented with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik.