Safety and Justice in Our Artistic Spaces

What do we do when harm is done? Who is responsible for holding accountable those who do harm, and who is responsible for helping survivors heal? Does healing look like those who are harmed returning to a pre-harm state—and if not, what else can healing look like? Is it possible for those who offend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian theatre review 2019-10, Vol.180, p.8-13
Main Author: Shaffeeullah, Nikki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Constructive conflict
Creativity
Cultural organizations
Harm reduction
Safety
Social justice
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Summary:What do we do when harm is done? Who is responsible for holding accountable those who do harm, and who is responsible for helping survivors heal? Does healing look like those who are harmed returning to a pre-harm state—and if not, what else can healing look like? Is it possible for those who offend to reintegrate into spaces? Does punishment deter harmful behaviour? Is rehabilitation possible? What does it mean for communities to hold offenders accountable? Can the state be a reasonable proxy for a community? This article invites a very broad spectrum of questions, asking how people and arts organizations can position themselves to minimize harm, hold themselves and each other accountable when harm is done, and be open to shifts in processes and culture that create new frameworks for safe, generative, and innovative creativity. I draw on my background as a facilitator, theatre director, and artistic organizational leader to explore a method for grappling with these questions and pursuing transformative justice: container-building. In order to foster safety, and thus the conditions for bold, truthful risk-taking, container-building challenges the ways in which the outside status quo might be brought into a room. “Building a container,” as extrapolated from Training for Change’s direct-education facilitation methodologies, is intentionally constructing an environment that holds the group and its work, making space for conflict (which is inevitable), facilitating safety, and encouraging risk-taking. In this article, I offer a non-exhaustive list of things you can consider in building containers for creative work, from your organizational offices to your rehearsal rooms.
ISSN:0315-0836
1920-941X
DOI:10.3138/ctr.180.002