Inspiring Examples of Arts for Social Change
On occasion, arts for social change projects reach thousands or even millions of people. Four examples are:
The Aids Quilt
The AIDS Quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the AIDS pandemic. More than 44,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels -- each one commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS -- have been sewn together by friends, lovers and family members. More than 15 million people have viewed the Quilt, and through the Quilt project over $3 million was raised for services for people with AIDS.
The Pan Centre for Intercultural Arts
The Pan Centre for Intercultural Arts holds performances, community and youth projects, refugee workshops and festivals that bring people together to try to create a world without racism.
In Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, PAN has trained 16 slum dwellers to be performers and workshop leaders in their communities. Traveling in a converted minibus with a fold down stage, the plays and workshops are about the lives of girls and the obstacles which prevent them from fulfilling their potential. The company also creates short sketches around issues in the individual slums, performed by smaller groups in the narrow alleyways and slum houses.
Not only have these shows reached over 600,000 people, but evaluation shows marked improvement in the level of girl children’s health and literacy, and a decrease in domestic violence and child labor. The project has now been set up as an independent trust in India, funded by local sources and by commissions from Health and Environmental Awareness organizations.
The Community Arts Forum, Belfast, Ireland
The Community Arts Forum has been run by arts for twenty-five years to mitigate the violence and mistrust that has dominated community life in Northern Ireland. Arts have included dozens of community originated theater productions; mural programs; community festivals; and work with prisoners, people with disabilities, and patients in hospitals and mental health facilities.
The Vagina Monologues and the V-Day campaign
V-Day is a global movement that supports anti-violence organizations throughout the world, drawing public attention to stop worldwide violence (including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery) against women and girls. Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers produce benefit performances of Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues, to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. In 2004, over 2,000 V-Day benefit events were presented around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. In seven years, the V-Day campaign has raised over $25 million.