Performance in a time of war - Cross cultural examples from contemporary sites of conflict

Abstract

This paper discusses some examples of performances and war that occurred between 2004 and 2007. This was the timeline of a three-and-a-half-year Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) -funded project called 'In Place of War' that continues to investigate international examples of performance and war. The research and the book Performance: In Place of War (Seagull Press, 2009) also seeks to engage more broadly with practices that have emerged since the end of the cold war, including the global political shifts that are visible in the fragmentation of former Yugoslavia; the peace process in Northern Ireland; the rise in conflict supposedly driven by ethnic and religious differences; and the 'war on terror' that has preoccupied much of the Western world since the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001. The imperative for the research and the book is specifically linked to these historical changes. Over the three-and- a-half years of the original research project, numerous public events, commissions, performances and seminars were held in the UK and internationally. The project has created an active network of scholars and practitioners to exchange information, experiences and practice. An online database has also been developed specifically to open up dialogue and share practice with researchers and practitioners internationally.