The CAP regularly invites people to attend the discussion series ‘Art in Conflict’. The series addresses fundamental questions faced by practitioners such as: ‘What can art achieve in regions affected by war?’ ‘How do artists work to preserve human dignity, create new opportunities for encounters, and promote peaceful conflict?' These and other pressing questions should not only be discussed inside of the artasfoundation but should rather be opened up to a larger audience of interested people.
‘Art in Conflict’ is a hybrid event which is held in English and hosted at Stall 6 at Gessnerallee or occasionally at ZHdK, Toni Areal. Invited experts, who either work in or publish about art initiatives in conflict regions, give the initial impulse for the discussion via a short presentation or a text which is shared in advance. Interested visitors are welcome to follow or join the conversation.
Subscribe to the current programme of the Art in Conflict discussion series via this link
Wednesday, 18 February 2026, 17.30–19.00 h CEST
Forms and Visions – Artistic Exchange Across Borders
with Gwen Lesmeister (Dramaturgy and Coordination, Theater X) and Roberto Hacaturyan (Musician, Ethnomusicologist, responsible at artlink for Global Sounds Switzerland and the South Culture Fund), joining on-site
Gessnerallee Zurich, Stall 6, Gessnerallee 8 & Zoom
Artistic exchange across (social) borders is also shaped by factors both seemingly trivial and profoundly consequential: personal, temporal, or financial resources can influence a project just as much as a visa that was not granted. But what approaches exist to deal with these challenges in artistic projects as well as on political or legal levels? Gwen Lesmeister and Roberto Hacaturyan will discuss strategies and experiences in addressing these issues.
Gwen Lesmeister is part of Theater X, a CommUNITY theatre in Berlin-Moabit conceived and run through co-management between young people and team members. Roberto Hacaturyan is responsible for the South Culture Fund at artlink, which supports cultural practitioners from Africa, Southeast and Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Eastern European non-EU countries in accessing the Swiss cultural market.
Spontaneous participation on site is always possible. Online participation is possible with prior registration. Free entry. The event will be held in English.
For the event on 18 February, please register here
Wednesday, 25 March 2026, 17.30–19.00 h CET
Between Education and Art – Inspiring Self-Empowerment
with Lera Lerner (Artist, Curator, Mediator, Founder of the Imaginary Museum of Displaced Persons), present on site, and Fairooz Tamimi (Author, Journalist, Action for Hope), joining online
Gessnerallee Zurich, Stall 6, Gessnerallee 8 & Zoom
The idea of education as self-empowerment shares much with socially engaged art concepts. Yet how can art and education interact to create learning spaces that people can shape themselves – beyond control and discipline?
Lera Lerner, a PhD holder in plant genetics from St. Petersburg, experiments in her performances and installations with “chance, wonder, intuition, and love” as pathways to spontaneous communication in public space.
Fairooz Tamimi is an author, cultural manager, and director of Action for Hope, an organisation that initiates cultural projects addressing the social, cultural, and psychological needs of distressed and displaced communities in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) and in Europe.
Spontaneous participation on site is always possible. Online participation is possible with prior registration. Free entry. The event will be held in English.
For the event on 25 March, please register here
Wednesday, 22 April 2025, 17.30–19.00 h CET
Spaces of Possibility in Conflict Transformation Through Arts
with Maja Leo (Specialist in Art in Processes of Conflict Transformation, Consultant at Berghof Foundation), present on site, and Tinatin Gurgenidze (Urban Researcher, Lecturer, Curator, Tbilisi Architecture Biennial), joining online
Gessnerallee Zurich, Stall 6, Gessnerallee 8 & Zoom
Just as a violently asserted claim to territory forms a fundamental condition for (violent) conflict, spaces can also be designed to create the conditions for overcoming such conflict. What kind of space of possibility is needed to enable conflict transformation? How can urban spaces foster critical discourse and lived practice among diverse actors?
The artist and consultant Maja Leo, whose background is in theatre and participatory artistic practices, and the urban researcher Tinatin Gurgenidze, co-initiator of the project Researching Common Territories, talk about how artistic, spatial, and social processes can interact to open spaces where difference is not seen as division but as a starting point for shared learning.
Spontaneous participation on site is always possible. Online participation is possible with prior registration. Free entry. The event will be held in English.
For the event on 22 April, please register here
Wednesday, 20 May 2025, 17.30–19.00 h CET
Making Invisible Stories Visible – The Cinematic Work of Nicole Vögele
with Nicole Vögele (Independent Filmmaker and Journalist), joining on-site
Gessnerallee Zurich, Stall 6, Gessnerallee 8 & Zoom
Art in Conflict – Practice is a spin-off from the Art in Conflict Discussion Series. The evening of 20. May is structured in two parts. The film The Landscape and the Fury will be screened at 17.30 h, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker at 20.15 h.
THE LANDSCAPE AND THE FURY (Switzerland 2024, 138 min) was filmed in Ravnice in northwestern Bosnia, where landmines from the Bosnian War remain and a European external border runs through the area. Amid this landscape daily life continues and a strong sense of solidarity exists among residents. But how can the absurd history of the 932-kilometre EU external border between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina be told? How does one depict images for a form of violence that expresses itself through its invisibility along what seems like an endlessly green border? Nicole Vögele describes her approach as searching for a “kaleidoscope of pain in the rustling leaves” in order to “cinematically explore this patch of earth, this patch of the world’s soul.”
Nicole Vögele, The Landscape and the Fury, Switzerland 2024, 138 min, languages: Bosnian, Dari, Farsi, Kurdish, Sorani, Punjabi; subtitles: English
Spontaneous participation on site is always possible. Online participation is possible with prior registration. Free entry. The event will be held in English.
For the event on 20 May, please register here
Wednesday, 10 June 2026, 17.30–19.00 h CET
Belonging, Loss, and the Language of Art
with Vida Rucli (Architect, Cultural Practitioner, Robida Collective), joining online, and Fazil On Yu (Dancer, Choreographer, Activist, and Performance Artist), present on site
Gessnerallee Zurich, Stall 6, Gessnerallee 8 & Zoom
Vida Rucli is a member of the interdisciplinary Robida Collective, which belongs to the Slovenian minority in Italy and is active in the border village of Topolò/Topolove. She and Fazil On Yu, a performance artist born in Uganda and now based in Switzerland, engage in a conversation on belonging, loss, and history. It's not only about dialogue between people but also about engaging with places, landscapes, and memories. In a world shaped by migration, multilingualism, and colonial legacies, how can open conversations be fostered? And what role can the art play in creating new spaces for listening and understanding?
Spontaneous participation on site is always possible. Online participation is possible with prior registration. Free entry. The event will be held in English.
For the event on 10 June, please register here
Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
The event Art in Conflict is part of a monthly series that is organised by the Center for Art and Peacebuilding CAP, a joint initiative of artasfoundation Lindenbachstr. 21, 8006 Zurich and the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, held at Theater Gessnerallee.