S spoke about her recent work to mark the 60th • Audience: We should not neglect audiences
N
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of already sympathetic to our goals, since the arts
I
O
Human Rights. Monica has memorised the full text
can refresh people’s indignation and motivate
of the Declaration and will recite it 60 times in
them to act. It is also important to keep in
meaningful situations and places throughout 2009
mind that whilst the arts have the potential
S
E
S
S
in a piece called ‘Anniversary – an act of memory’.
to engage a wider audience in human rights
P
One of these performances took place during
issues, some groups remain hard to reach.
registration at the conference. In the workshop
O she described the work as a personal effort to
S
H keep the Declaration constantly in mind and to
We should not neglect audiences already
K
witness this effort. She said it is about the personal,
sympathetic to our goals – the arts can refresh
R
political and public struggle for memory; the frailty
people’s indignation and motivate them to act.
of human agency in realising the complexities and
contradictions of living human rights.
• Involvement and accessibility: As well as making
WO
Finally, Deborah Kingsland from the
the visual arts more accessible, we need
Documentary Filmmakers Group introduced the
to work on engaging and involving under-
ISIS project
4,
run in partnership with BIHR, which
represented groups and people who have
provided free-of-charge training to16 talented
experienced human rights abuses.
women directors, giving them the skills they
• Representation: There are many ethical
needed to kick-start their careers. It included
issues around representation. We have to
human rights master-classes alongside practical
ask ourselves: is this story being accurately
training in filmmaking skills.
portrayed? Are we exploiting people’s suffering
Group discussion
to promote our own causes?
Key points emerging from the open discussion • The transformative potential of the arts:
that followed included: Delegates agreed that the arts are a vital
4 The three films produced during the ISIS project can now be viewed on BIHR’s website (www.bihr.org.uk).
Cinematographer Barbara Nicholls gives advice to participants on the ISIS project
14
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