project
This project focuses on Quibdó, the capital of Chocó in the Colombian Pacific: a remote area disproportionately affected by armed conflict and home to mainly Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations who face a complex legacy of intersectional inequalities.
The project is the product of a longstanding partnership between the University of Edinburgh and Universidad Claretiana and builds specifically on Partnership and Research Workshops carried out in May 2019 in Quibdó. The workshops brought together young people, researchers from Colombia and UK, artists, CSOs, local government agencies and education providers to collaboratively develop the project focus and methodology.
The project responds to specific priorities identified by young people. These include: tensions within and between neighbourhoods (barrios); violence and armed gangs; and feelings of fear and distrust. The project used a co-produced music-and arts-based approach. In collaboration with CSO partners Fundación Casa Tres Patios and Mr Klaje Collective, the project leads supported young co-researchers from three Quibdó barrios to facilitate workshops with other young people to critically deconstruct collective memories.
The project aimed to:
- Enable young people to become critical co-constructors of their communities’ histories and visualise alternative futures through a co-produced music- and arts-based methodology.
- Generate dialogue between youth groups to break down neighbourhood barriers and deconstruct post-conflict tensions.
- Make visible the experiences of marginalised young people and support the creation of sustainable alliances with CSOs, policy and educational stakeholders and researchers for delivering social justice for young people.
- Investigate the potential of participatory music and arts as a tool for reconciliation and capacity building by engaging comparatively with projects in the CtS portfolio and beyond.
As part of the project, the young researchers and partners co-created and co-produced a music video.
Photo caption: A group of young women take part in a (pre-pandemic) arts- and music-based workshop in Quibdó, Colombia.
Photo credit: Dr. Marlies Kustatscher, CC BY 3.0
