Peer-to-Peer Activity: Inspiring
Overview
Participants share examples of artistic expressions that capture aspects of minority rights. This activity provides an opportunity to discuss how art can be used to showcase minority voices.
Competencies
- Participants share artistic expressions that capture aspects of the commitment to protect minority rights.
- Participants articulate how minority voices can be heard through artistic expression.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Discussion Questions
Resources
Facilitator Tips
Faith Quotes
Step-by-Step Instructions
INTRODUCTION
- Facilitator presents an artistic expression that captures aspects of Commitment VI.
- Facilitator may use a personal example or may use a visual or musical example provided under the Resources tab.
- Facilitator invites participants to share artistic expressions of which they are aware that capture aspects of Commitment VI. Time may be allowed for participants to locate examples via the internet.
DISCUSSION
- Encourage participants to discuss the works of art they found that represent Commitment VI.
- Questions under the Discussion Questions tab may be used to stimulate discussion.
CONCLUSION
- Participants commit to share artistic expressions that capture aspects of Commitment VI with family, friends, or on social media.
Discussion Questions
- Is it easier for persons belonging to national or ethnic minorities to be heard, for example through popular music?
- Can other artistic modes of communication be used to convey the message of minority rights?
- Are limitations of artistic freedoms placed on religious or other minority groups?
Resources
- Commitment VI Music, a performance that combines musical traditions from different cultures. (The performance runs approximately 7 minutes.)
- Photography 4 Humanity, a display of photographs that depict a variety of images relevant to Commitment VI
Other
- Webinar on human rights, art and protest featuring Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth stressing that the purpose of religion and creation was “for us to be co-creators and transforming and healing the world.” (Total run time is 2:12:01.)
- Report on Limitations on Artistic Freedoms (A/HRC/23/34)
- 2018 report from the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, (A/HRC/37/55), Karima Bennoune, on the contribution of artistic and cultural initiatives to creating and developing right-respecting societies
Facilitator Tips
Internet connectivity is required to stream the musical performance and the webinar.
If it is not possible to screen these resources during the session, participants can watch on their own prior to coming to the session. During the session, participants may express the feelings they had as they watched and listened.
Additional Tips for All Peer-to-Peer Activities
- The #Faith4Rights modules are flexible and require adaptation by the facilitators before their use. Case studies related to peer-to-peer exercises in the 18 modules need to be selected by the facilitators from within the environment where the learning takes place. The #Faith4Rights toolkit is a prototype methodology that requires contextualization, based on the text of the 18 commitments, context, and additional supporting documents.
- Not all issues raised need to be resolved. This would be an impossible and even a counterproductive target. The aim is rather to enhance critical thinking and communication skills, admitting that some questions could receive many answers, depending on numerous factors.
- Tensions may occur during discussions related to “faith” and “rights.” Most of these tensions are due to human interpretations. Learning sessions are spaces for constructive dialogue in a dynamic process where tensions can be reduced with the help of clear methodologies, including pre-emptive situation analysis and evidence of positive results in areas of intersectionality between faith and rights.
- When preparing the sessions, facilitators need to factor in the profile, age, and backgrounds of participants. Focused attention on the learning objectives can transform tensions into constructive exploration of new ideas.
- Meaningful engagement requires democratically pre-established rules. Facilitators should dedicate time with participants to elaborate these rules together at the outset and act all along the training as their custodians.
- The time frames suggested in this #Faith4Rights toolkit are merely indicative. Facilitators may adapt them freely to suit the needs of their group of participants. The key balance is between respecting the overall time frame while not cutting short a positive exchange momentum.
- To ensure optimal and sustainable benefit, facilitators may create a “training notebook” for participants during their peer-to-peer learning sessions. It would contain a compilation of templates to help participants keep track of what they have learned throughout the program and eventually use this notebook as their personalized follow-up tool.
- When technically feasible, facilitators are also advised to project the module under discussion on screen in order to alternate between discussions thereon and showing the audio-visual materials listed in each module or any other items selected by the facilitator.
Faith Quotes
- “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” (Rumi)
- “Your true character is most accurately measured by how you treat those who can do ‘Nothing’ for you.” (Mother Theresa)