Performative Arts, New Critical Spaces for Inclusion in Transitional Justice

Jules Andre, Debuyst

Performative arts seem to embrace the characteristics that should be those of Transitional Justice — contextual, complex, capable of integrating different temporalities, and bringing together individual and collective voices, subjective memories and a shared history. Thanks to these characteristics, they seem offer a new approach to situations of political transition, and also new perspectives on dealing with traumatic experiences.

Firstly, it can be argued that they generally allow a contextual approach to be followed. Secondly, performative arts offer new perspectives on dealing with traumatic experiences, opening up space for new forms of expression. This approach is not only beneficial to the healing process for victims, but also to the reintegration of ex-combatants. The advances in neuroscience at the end of the last century tend to establish connections between the body and the brain.

The initiatives led by María Estrada-Fuentes provide eloquent illustrations. She defines the human body as “an intersectional place for identifying relational patterns that can be considered and rehearsed towards adaptation where necessary”, and movement “as a tool to better understand affective transactions and emotional states that facilitate conflict transformation processes”.

Yet, the use of performative arts in Transitional Justice processes often appear counter- intuitive —if not far-fetched— in the eyes of many players in public life, given that art does not fit into the rational liberal logic of today's democratic societies. Besides, if projects using performative arts in the context of Transitional Justice processes are multiplying, methodology is often missing.

Though the casuistical approach of these spaces should be preserved, consideration ought to be given now to making them more operational and sustainable. Three avenues should be explored: that of national institutional structures, of international organizations, and of structural intervention in the workplace.