23 February 2006
Art and culture should be used to help fight terrorism, Monash University academic Professor Bernard Hoffert will tell the world's largest arts education summit next month.
Speaking at the UNESCO World Conference on Art Education, Professor Hoffert will argue that if governments are to successfully address national and international security it is necessary and logical to embrace cultural support.
By supporting culture, communities that might otherwise become security risks could be stabilised, says Professor Hoffert, head of Monash's Department of Fine Arts.
Education systems that support the arts also need to be reinforced, he says. "Through arts education, communities teach each new generation of artists to continue and extend their identity and tell the world who they are," Professor Hoffert says.
He says oppression, ignorance and poverty create a sense of hopelessness that can allow fundamentalism to grow, but that arts projects and education can combat those factors. "Addressing security issues through culture requires a shift in thinking, from solving the problem to removing the cause," he says.
Professor Hoffert says even small-scale projects can help support disenfranchised groups that might otherwise fall prey to negative forces. Two such projects - an Israeli-Palestinian art exhibition and a Cambodian puppet revival - have already had success.
Similar success was achieved at Balgo, a remote community in north-west Western Australia , where a program involving Masters and PhD glass art students helped the community counter anti-social behaviour and cement it as a thriving centre for art production.
Professor Hoffert will present his paper 'Combating Terror: Security Through Art Education' at the UNESCO World Conference on Art Education to be held in Lisbon, Portugal March 6-9 and attended by education and culture ministerial representatives, non-government organisations and other experts.
He will also speak at the International InSEA (International Society for Education through Art) Congress, also in Portugual, from March 1-5.
Professor Hoffert was invited to speak at the UNESCO conference based on material presented at the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools' national conference in Perth last year.
He leaves Melbourne on Monday 27 February, returning Tuesday 14 March, and can be contacted intermittently while overseas.
For more information contact Professor Bernard Hoffert on +613 990 3711 or Bernard.Hoffert@ArtDes.monash .edu.au or Melissa Marino, Media Communications, on +613 9905 2085 or 0437 121 978.
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