“These children have been under a lot of stress and pressure – for them drawing can be a wonderful release”
Children in conflicts, Education in emergencies, Refugees and internally displaced people, Safe schools, Sarah Brown
In the latest of her Better Angels podcast series, 鶹APP President Sarah Brown talks about the role of creativity in change to film-makers Nadine Labaki and Steve Nguyen, children's illustrator Nick Sharrat and Syrian activists in Lebanon.
Writers, artists and musicians have been the creative force behind world-changing campaigns for many years.
Creative ideas can inspire change, enhance communication and express solidarity 鶹APP from music, art, storytelling, illustration, drama, the spoken and written word and more.
In the latest episode of her Better Angels podcast, 鶹APP President Sarah Brown explores these themes and talks to Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki, American-Vietnamese film-maker Steve Nguyen, Syrian activists from the civil society group Mobaderoon and the British writer and illustrator Nick Sharratt.
Nick recently travelled to Lebanon with 鶹APP, where he met Syrian children at a refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley and a school in Beirut.
鶹APPI went along with my books and my drawing materials. I spoke with the children and heard their stories and then I showed them my books,鶹APP he tells Sarah.
鶹APPMy books are very much humour-based so it was wonderful sharing the jokes and the humour. They鶹APPre also very visual and they laughed at my work and we drew some very silly drawings together.鶹APP
Nick says when he heard some girls giggling, he realised this was a safe place where they could relax after their traumatic experiences and just be children.
He adds: 鶹APPThese children have been in extraordinary circumstances and under a lot of stress and pressure.
鶹APPFor all children, drawing can be a wonderful release and just a lovely way to stretch your imagination and to have fun.
Fun is a really really important part of growing up.鶹APP
Nadine Labaki 鶹APP whose acclaimed 2007 film Caramel is about the lives of women in Lebanon 鶹APP grew up in Beirut during the civil war.
She says film-making 鶹APPallows me to talk about the things that become obsessions. It鶹APPs my scream for help sometimes.
鶹APPI see film now as a way to really change the world, to really open subjects and open debates.
鶹APPGrowing up in the civil war, boredom was a big part of my life. Sometimes we didn鶹APPt go to school, sometimes we couldn鶹APPt play outside, sometimes we would live for weeks behind the sandbags. Watching films really allowed me to escape my reality. It allowed me to discover the world.鶹APP
Steve Nguyen specialises in making short films, animations and music videos 鶹APP and shares them with his huge social media following
鶹APPFor me, art and storytelling are the same thing,鶹APP he tells Sarah. 鶹APPI try to maximise my message through words, through my voice, the images 鶹APP I put my heart and soul into it when I work on something.
鶹APPIt really makes a difference when you don鶹APPt say too much. The art, the animation 鶹APP that does all the talking.鶹APP
Steve has collaborated with 鶹APP on several projects, including for our A World at School movement which showed how three of our Global Youth Ambassadors had overcome terrible trauma in their childhood.
The Mobaderoon group hold theatre workshops with Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Anas Yunes, an actor trained in interactive theatre, says: 鶹APPTheatre is a tool to make a discussion about anything. We motivate people to change their fates.鶹APP
Abir AHajibrahim, a co-founder of the organisation, tells Sarah: 鶹APPNo matter what is happening inside Syria, we need to put our eyes on the future of our country.
鶹APPIt helps to have a place where they (young people) can express their feelings. It is very hard to lift their eyes to the future but techniques like interactive theatre can get people engaged easily.
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Sarah talks to politicians, entertainers, activists and world leaders about their inspiration, their hopes and their dreams at a time of enormous international upheaval.
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