Our Mission
Responding to a world embroiled by war and conflict and the obsessive quantification and privatisation of public services and assets, Hunar challenges the marginalised role that cultural products have suffered. By advocating for the inherent value of the arts in society as a form of knowledge, we seek to decolonise the way we understand what we know about conflict...and art. Cultural products produced in places which have suffered prolonged conflict and violence provide a pertinent example of the importance of the arts in reconstructing social identities unbound by narratives of trauma.
Bringing together artists and scholars, the 2022 conference explored the utility and inherent value of cultural products in places that have experienced conflict, crisis and colonisation - both contemporaneously and in the past. In an era when the arts and culture have suffered disproportionately, projects like this are crucial for our societies. Conference talks and themes are being developed into a special issue with University of Canberra's Axon: Creative Expressions. The conference coincided with an exhibition, 'Missing Time', and public art event.
Hunar's objectives
- Create a space of discourse in which nuanced and considered discussion about the deployment of art in societies which have experienced current or past trauma through war, violence or conflict, are explored.
- Create an international network of theorists and practitioners who can support each other, share knowledge, funding, collaborations and more.
- Elevate the profile of marginalised artists and the role of arts more generally to local and global communities.
- Archive, through publication, the current social and political moment and arts’ response.
- Create new knowledge through the arts and arts praxis.
You can also find out about Hunar members or check out our support page if you want to get involved!
(This image was sourced with permission from ArtLords Facebook page 7 Nov 2021.)