After 36 years of violent conflict and more than a century of unhealed wounds, the Armenian society is still facing difficulties to establish peace with its Caucasian neighbour, Azerbaijan. While several generations have been raised in a militarised society where national pride, the influence of family, school or the Armenian Apostolic Church are very strong, individuals constantly feel threatened by their neighbours with whom they live in a context of mutual hatred. The post-2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war context bears witness to the rise of nationalistic and radical tendencies within Armenian society. Accordingly, public demand for peace, reconciliation and dialogue are struggling to find a place in society.

However, Armenian civil society is flourishing. Some non-governmental organisations such as Peace Dialogue NGO, based in the city of Vanadzor, bring all their forces together to contribute to influencing the slow and difficult formation of new identities and ideas aiming at building a sustainable peace in the region. By encouraging nonviolent and inclusive approaches to conflict resolution with the aim of building trust between conflicting parties, Peace Dialogue aims at reducing militaristic, nationalistic, and patriarchal tendencies.

In 2023, the organisation’s team assessed that the first step to create public demand for peace would be to empower young people and make them as interested as possible in conflict transformation and peacebuilding activities.

A study relying on focus groups discussions, conducted by Conciliation Resources and Peace Dialogue NGO, analysed that some respondents, even if not the majority, considered that achieving peace and security would consist in building a powerful army, choosing the right allies as well as an effective and proactive diplomacy. This does not include non-governmental work led by civil society or NGOs but rather State’s regalian duties. This is why, even if flourishing, this is a paradoxical civil society context explaining that the first obstacle encountered was the difficulty to attract young people in this conflict transformation-related activity due to the over-presence of war-related news in daily life and their will to live far from it.

In 2023, the organisation’s team assessed that the first step to create public demand for peace would be to empower young people and make them as interested as possible in conflict transformation and peacebuilding activities.

In a long-term conflict, where a full array of methods and practices has been explored, it is central to implement innovative ideas. Hanna Qadir analyses the ‘growing need for innovation, creativity and interdisciplinarity when it comes to understanding conflict’. So, the NGO decided to use both a creative and participatory methodology. The objective was to empower young people and fit their interests while allowing them to share and challenge conflict-related narratives that are most of the time unchallenged or even taboo.

The flags of Armenia and the non-recognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) at the cemetery in Erevan, Armenia.

The flags of Armenia and the non-recognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) at the cemetery in Erevan, Armenia. Via artaxerxes_longhand on Shutterstock.

From Theatre of the Oppressed to ‘Brainstorming Theatre’

Taking the form of a weekly theatre club in Vanadzor, the ‘Brainstorming Theatre’ involved young people from Lori region between 15-25 years old during the summer 2023.

Theatre has the advantages of empowering its practitioners by providing them with self-confidence. Being exposed to a large variety of emotions through performance is similar to the first stages of mental shifts needed for the complex topic of peacebuilding. Ultimately, it enables them to better challenge common beliefs.

The methodology was mainly inspired by playwright Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. By stimulating critical thinking, observation, and representation of reality, it allows its participants, or ‘spect-actors’ to think about producing concrete solutions and actions to societal issues encountered.

As Augusto Boal stated, ‘theatre is the art of looking at ourselves’. It means that while participants are reproducing mere stories of their daily life, situations they have witnessed on the street or even playing famous fairy tales’ villains, they take a step back and observe themselves, their actions, their feelings and reflect about it from a distance.

By playing games and skits, as well as punctuating all sessions by a reflective time and open discussion, facilitators wanted to make young participants believe that change is possible. It was an effective tool to make them aware that they can become actors of change and not only be spectators of the situation of their country.

For example, debates between men and women occurred between participants regarding the role of violence in authority. These debates took place in a society where the socially acceptable role of women does not include voicing their opinions in front of men. When talking about people’s intrinsic nature and why a group can cause harm to another, a young girl participant stated that ‘Being good or bad is not just a state, it’s a mix of everything, education, background are really important and leading to [be bad or good] is your final choice at the end’.

The initiative resulted in making young participants more curious, interested, and active in civil society and grassroots initiatives led by NGOs. It also encouraged them to voice their own opinions in front of opposing parties.

Today, some participants even joined other peacebuilding activities with Peace Dialogue, to lead the initiative further.

Theatre and creative methodologies as healing tools

This theatre club did not shift people’s minds on the perception of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This will take years. Rather, it introduced young participants, unaware of what peacebuilding was, to the practice of shifting their perceptions on society and on the ‘other’. They learned to be more tolerant to others’ ideas and to debate and discuss in a constructive way.

The ‘Brainstorming Theatre’ initiative was the first step to make youth conscious of what mutual dialogue and understanding are, to gain self-confidence and open new perceptions to contribute to a more diverse view of society. Namely more inclusive, human-centred, and less influenced by stereotypes.

Interestingly, some participants were not keen to share their opinions when direct conflict-related topics were addressed but were enthusiastic when elaborating or playing skits which were indirectly addressing these issues. This is why creative and art-related practices could be further applied as healing tools.

This shows how the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology can be applied in a conflict-affected context to attract young people and introduce them in a non-formal way to topics they and their families would otherwise be reluctant to hear about.

By improving communication between people and self-expression of individuals, they can be less fearful of expressing their opinions through art rather than through direct speech. The healing potential of art-related practices, theatre in this case, could be particularly relevant more broadly in Armenia, where collective trauma is strongly linked with cultural heritage and identity.

Note: The project presented here was implemented by the author of this article and Peace Dialogue NGO.