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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

The Art And Artifacts Of Solidarity, Yasmin Merali Jun 2023

The Art And Artifacts Of Solidarity, Yasmin Merali

New England Journal of Public Policy

In Complex Adaptive Systems in a Contentious World I showed how viewing social systems as Complex Adaptive Systems exposes the systemic mechanisms that underpin their resilience and sustainability. In this article I show the utility of that approach for elucidating the role of art and artists in the evolution of resilient social movements. I do this by exploring the way in which art and artifacts were implicated in the evolution of the Polish Solidarność movement.


Seventeen Pieces: Displacement, Misplacement, And Conservation, Yasmin Merali, Kevork Mourad, Manas Ghanem Nov 2020

Seventeen Pieces: Displacement, Misplacement, And Conservation, Yasmin Merali, Kevork Mourad, Manas Ghanem

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the systemic importance of art in the conservation of images, historical reference, and cultural meaning as displaced victims of humanitarian crises make the transition from the land of their birth to a new country with a different history and cultural landscape. In presenting the work of Kevork Mourad, an artist of Armenian descent displaced from Syria, we show the essential, layered interplay of visceral, lived individual experiences and the historic collective memory of real and imagined pasts that survive the destruction of physical artifacts.


Stories Untold: Art From Syria, Manas Ghanem May 2019

Stories Untold: Art From Syria, Manas Ghanem

New England Journal of Public Policy

In Damascus, a group of artists created paintings of startling intensity, rich in texture and bold to the eye, suffused with light and reflecting alternate realities: the resilience of a highly cultured people with a civilization of seven thousand years and a history of survival and reinvention. While the machines of war produced death, amid the blood and terror, the devastation and savagery, these artists produced images of hope and beauty that were brought together in an exhibition held in Athens and other parts of Greece. The paintings that accompany Ghanem’s article, “Stories Untold: Art from Syria,” also the name …


The Power Of The Urban Canvas: Paint, Politics, And Mural Art Policy, Maura E. Greaney Sep 2002

The Power Of The Urban Canvas: Paint, Politics, And Mural Art Policy, Maura E. Greaney

New England Journal of Public Policy

In cities across America, outdoor mural paintings have brought public art to the urban landscape. Paint and politics have been splashed upon city walls for decades, replacing bleak, often graffitied, exteriors with vibrant color. But this transformation runs deeper than the artistry of the murals; the real works of art are the changes these collaborative projects inspire within communities. Mural projects mobilize communities to articulate dreams, express frustrations, and most importantly, consider strategies for change. Thus, they are a worthy consideration for public policymakers. This case study traces the contemporary mural movement in three cities: Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. …