An interactive exhibition of posters, coasters and a participatory ‘Path to Peace’ game. The posters and coasters give voice to young people, their experiences of conflict, and vision for the future. Together with the ‘Path to Peace’ game, participants are stimulated in conversation towards action for peace. The exhibition is funded by the Community Relations Council.
Following on from Good Relations week, the event is organized in partnership with Youth Link NIand YouthAction Northern Ireland posters, coasters and ‘Path to Peace’ game. The purpose of the exhibition is to give voice to young people about their perspective on conflict and peace, to stimulate conversation in public spaces about what young people are saying about their society, and to consider small actions that can be taken towards peace. The posters: Peace-building literature suggests that in societies transitioning from war to peace there is a need to envision a shared future and construct a shared understanding of the common good. To this end, Youth Link has been working with young people to develop a vision of the future based on the common good. In workshops young people are asked to think about the kind of society they would like to be living - as depicted through news headlines 20 years in the future. We have about 40 posters produced by young people from across the island of Ireland. They provide really interesting insights into some of the hopes young people have for their future while also giving voice to some of their priorities and concerns. The coasters: Many peace-building resources developed are aimed at practitioners in educational settings. ‘Coasters’ provides a mechanism for perspectives, question-posing and action-suggesting to be brought into a space among civil society in public spaces. They are illustrated beer mats/ tea-coffee coasters which have a range of quotes from young people on one side and some questions or action statements on the flip side. At the art exhibition ‘coasters’ will be laid around the room for the public to set their drinks on and to use as conversation starters among each other. Path to peace game: ‘Path to peace’ is an interactive and participative game that prompts participants to work towards the end goal of peace. Along the journey participants are faced with options to discuss quotes from young people, adults and literature related to conflict and peace-building. They also have opportunities to debate contentious issues as well as consider actions that be made to enhance peace-building efforts. At the art exhibition ‘path to peace’ will be enlarged to allow participants to move around the board in small groups. The exhibition will run until Culture Night (& Day) Belfast! Friday 20th September