In this lecture, panelists including Cléa Daridan (Community Jameel), Venetia Porter (British Museum), Christopher Bailey (WHO), and Rand Abdul Jabbar, working in range of fields come together to reflect on art, culture and well-being in the context of the Middle East. Evidence shows the potential and effectiveness of arts and culture to achieve healthcare outcomes, particularly for those suffering from trauma like refugees in post-conflict contexts. The panel discusses opportunities and challenges of strategically integrating arts to support communities’ mental health in post-conflict contexts. Watch the full lecture here.

In this lecture, Dr. Ashley Jackson, Jolyon Leslie, and Mehmet Balci bring to attention the issue of engaging with armed groups on cultural heritage in some of the most intractable fragile contexts. The destruction of cultural heritage by armed groups has gained increasing political visibility over the recent decades, from the demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan to the destruction of ancient Palmyra in Syria. Despite their iconoclastic motivations, armed groups may prove to be important actors in preserving cultural heritage. Watch the full lecture here.

In this lecture, Eric Latzky and Matias Tarnopolsky shed light on the often-undermined role of music as an instrument of cultural diplomacy and dialogue between nations. Even the most improbable circumstances, music as an art form holds the power of unifying nations across the world. Two examples are those of New York Philharmonic in North Korea and West-Eastern Divan in America, both promoting inter-cultural harmony between nations with interlinked histories. Watch the full lecture here.

This lecture is delivered by Dr. Ali Esmaiel, who heads the Aga Khan Cultural Services in Syria and oversees culture and heritage programmes in Damascus and Aleppo - sites that have undergone massive damage due to conflict. The restoration of Ancient Bazaars of Aleppo – what used to be the core of city’s social and economic life - provides a strong, insightful case study on how working through culture supplemented by high levels of community engagement can provide an entry point for post-conflict recovery. Cultural programmes with just enough funding can lead to both tangible economic recovery and intangible social recovery as the case of Aleppo shows. Watch the full lecture here.

Rudi von Planta, Ragheda Aldoni and Tamuna TsivTsivadze from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) discuss arts and culture as a human right, an engine for social change, a key characteristic of a functioning democratic society, and a catalyst for greater social inclusion using multiple examples from SDC’s portfolio of projects. They make a case for instrumentalising culture to support existing development and humanitarian efforts, particularly in emergency set-ups such as the Occupied Palestinian Territory and South Caucasus. Watch the full lecture here.

In this lecture, Moe Saito from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) showcases their unique approach to building bridges between communities in conflict-ridden Iraq. After the collapse of the Islamic State, Iraq experienced a range of socio-political challenges – including displacement and aggravating community tensions. Amidst these challenges, IOM employed creative forms of traditional sports and arts rebuilding social cohesion and reduce tensions between communities. Watch the full lecture here.

The series began with Rory Stewart’s speech on the significance of cultural programming in post-conflict recovery. In this introductory lecture, we explore how cultural programmes are resilient and sustainable given their rootedness within communities. The lecture included contributions from AKF CEO Matt Reed, Aleph Director Jonathan Rider, and the RSAA’s Michael Ryder. Watch the full lecture here.