Center for Art and Peacebuilding (CAP)

  • Summer School in the new art space of SKLAD, Abkhazia, with students from Abkhazia, Chisinau and the ZHdK. (Photo: Dagmar Reichert)Summer School in the new art space of SKLAD, Abkhazia, with students from Abkhazia, Chisinau and the ZHdK. (Photo: Dagmar Reichert)

The Center for Art and Peacebuilding (CAP) is the interface between Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and artasfoundation. It was established in 2020 with the express long-term goal of expanding a partnership created in 2012 as well as its activities.

Mission Statement

Artistic initiatives for peaceful conflict resolution, human encounter and mediation in situations of violence are currently receiving increasing attention in international cooperation as well as in the arts. This also applies to artistic approaches to highlighting social conflicts, coming to terms with the past and social reconstruction in conflict-affected regions.

The ZKF therefore is tasked with researching the potential of artistic contributions to transform violent conflicts, testing it on a practical level in projects and discussing it with experts and the general public. The Centre for Art and Peacebuilding (CAP) promotes the active involvement of ZHdK students, lecturers and researchers from all departments on the one hand, and the day-to-work work of the artasfoundation on the other. Both focuses are aimed at enabling CAP projects to actively engage with higher arts teaching and research. The CAP is committed to promoting international cooperation oriented towards equality and respectful cultural exchange.

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Areas of Work

The CAP supports and initiates modules and exchange projects in the field of artistic engagement in conflict regions. To this end, it fosters networking and on-the-ground cooperation with organisations, institutions and initiatives in Switzerland and in conflict-affected areas. The CAP also promotes research on art and peacebuilding.

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Activities and offers

To promote artistic contributions to the transformation of violent conflicts in projects, CAP supports and oversees various activities and programmes. Every month, ‘Art in Conflict’, a series of public talks created in collaboration with artasfoundation, CAP and Gessnerallee, brings together practitioners from the field of art and peacebuilding who address the topic in a researching, conceptualising, or artistic capacity. The CAS Arts and International Cooperation is a continuing education programme in this field with an explicitly international focus. Additionally, there is also a coaching and mentoring programme for members of the ZHdK. Research is also an important concern of CAP. It currently runs the project ‘Contemporary Art, Popular Culture and Peacebuilding’ (SNSF, 2022–2026).

CAP works together with various organisations and initiatives.

  • Credit: Evan RuetschCredit: Evan Ruetsch
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Team and Contact

Bettina Ganz
Project Coordinator, ZHdK
bettina.ganz(at)zhdk.ch

Mara Züst
Project Coordinator, artasfoundation  
mara.zuest(at)zhdk.ch

Dagmar Reichert
President of the Board of Trustees, artasfoundation
dagmar.reichert(at)artasfoundation.ch

[Translate to English:] Logo des Zentrums für Kunst und Friedensförderung

Impressions

  • Visit to the SHiFT theatre initiative in Tripoli, Lebanon during last year’s continuing education course. (Photo: Marcel Bleuler)Visit to the SHiFT theatre initiative in Tripoli, Lebanon during last year’s continuing education course. (Photo: Marcel Bleuler)
  • The complaints choir for international cooperation at the Art at Risk Conference, conducted by Tellervo Kalleinen (Photo: Evan Ruetsch)The complaints choir for international cooperation at the Art at Risk Conference, conducted by Tellervo Kalleinen (Photo: Evan Ruetsch)
  • The Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, Karima Bennoune, (right) in discussion with artist Tania Bruguera. (Photo: Evan Ruetsch)The Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, Karima Bennoune, (right) in discussion with artist Tania Bruguera. (Photo: Evan Ruetsch)
  • Model of the planned exhibition of Janset Aljarrah, a scholarship holder from Abkhazia, at ZHdK as part of the Learning from Inequality project funded by Movetia. (Photo:Janset Aljarrah)Model of the planned exhibition of Janset Aljarrah, a scholarship holder from Abkhazia, at ZHdK as part of the Learning from Inequality project funded by Movetia. (Photo:Janset Aljarrah)
  • Art Matters_up-and-coming art teachers from Switzerland talking with their colleagues from Abkhazia and Armenia. (Photo: Bastian Riesen)Art Matters_up-and-coming art teachers from Switzerland talking with their colleagues from Abkhazia and Armenia. (Photo: Bastian Riesen)