General Objectives of the Project:

Prolongar Foundation established an innovative and sustainable model through the systemic approach that addresses the personal, interpersonal and collective levels. “Art for Reconstruction” uses artistic strategies throughout the project to achieve three main objectives:

1. To reconcile civilians, people in reintegration process (PPR, by its Spanish initials) and retired veterans with their own wounds and stories.
2. To promote reconciliation to increase comprehension and reduce mistrust between the three groups.
3. To promote reconciliation and raise awareness in society through an art exhibition.

 Project components:

1. Individual Reconciliation and Trauma Healing

Duration: 4 months (November 2018- February 2019).

Number of workshops: 27 workshops (9 workshops per group).

Methodology:

This stage involved 9 self-inquiry sessions held every 8 or 15 days. These sessions strengthened the possibility of reconciliation of each participant with herself/himself. To promote trauma healing, a central metaphor of the project was the Japanese technique, Kintsugi, which allowed the participants to reflect on resilience and personal reconstruction, taking them to heal their wounds from the past and create bonds of trust. 

Goymer, a PPR participant who is a landmine victim, reflects after the Kintsugi reconstruction: “Now I see my scars as a trophy that does not allow me to look back, that does not allow me to return to my past. And although I have them physically visible, spiritually, for me, they no longer exist”. In this way, as Goymer expressed, rather than denying them, the participants accepted their wounds and had the possibility to contemplate more possibilities in the present.

2. Connecting Enemies

Duration: 3 months (March 2019-June 2019).

Number of workshops:  21 workshops (15 sessions  of  constructive dialogue and preparation for the face-to-face encounter –5 sessions per group–, 4 sessions of face-to-face encounters between groups and 2 sessions of collaborative design of the exhibition).

Methodology: This component fostered face-to-face encounters between three populations that were adversaries under war logics to create new relationships between them. Through collective reconstruction using the Kintsugi technique, the participants engaged in a constructive dialogue, explored their collective wounds and acknowledged the elements that unite them, like glue. Additionally, the three groups worked together to create the exhibition Unlikely Encounters, which allowed them to discover shared identities and goals. 

3. Empowering people

Duration: 2 months (May 2019 – June 2019).

Number of workshops: 2 training sessions.

Methodology: To reinforce empowering processes and encourage more transformations, the Foundation created a selection process in which the participants chose 8 people as guides and representatives in the exhibition. They received two training sessions and assumed their role with commitment. Two of the guides are blind, three of them use wheelchairs, and the others have amputated extremities and use prostheses. Regarding this experience, one of the guides, Sergio Arango, said that: “People have received the exhibit as something wonderful, allowing them to see that they can explore paths towards reconciliation and transform society. It is difficult to express the feelings that people showed us while visiting the exhibit. It is priceless, something that completes our souls and inspires us to move forward”.

4. Connecting key actors in Medellin’s society through an art exhibition

To foster reconciliation with citizens and key society mobilizers in Medellin, the Unlikely Encounters exhibit was shown in three different locations. This way, we reached over 600 visitors from different communes and social strata, who were active spectators of the exhibition.

The artistic strategies and the messages that were exposed in the exhibition changed the visitors’ perceptions about people in the reintegration process and people with disabilities. The exhibition also strengthened their empathy (see results below). Important public officers and other visitors shared positive messages and learnings about the exhibition, depicting the possibility of “Art for Reconstruction” to promote reconciliation among key institutions.