How Zealous Artists are Healing the World

Happy Human Rights Day! Today, we (and the rest of the creative community) celebrates the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first international declaration of its kind. Since the General Assembly passed this resolution in 1950, communities large and small have celebrated their shared commitments to political, civil, social, and socioeconomic rights in many different ways: fundraisers, formal talks, and—our favourite!—creative displays of peace and equality. The UDHR inspires creative and cultural organisations and artists around the world, including some of our own Zealous artists! As we know—and as these artists clearly exhibit—creativity can make an enormous impact on individuals’ and communities’ well-being; art is a political tool, a coping mechanism, an interpretation of the world around us and a bullhorn for its endless positive potential.

Check out these amazing Zealous artists and reflect on creativity’s relevance in healing the world.

Tu Hao Chin—War and Peace

Kareem Al Qurity—constitution

[I am] in search for the relationship between people and the constitution, to clarify the consistency of the constitution as a written text with the behaviours and attitudes of people in the community.

Paul Moon—Apostasy

The word apostasy evokes abandonment and renunciation. Projected into our world of epidemic gun violence, “Apostasy” is a film about shaking free from conflict, and destroying oneself – to embrace apostasy, and find peace.

Inas Halabi—Edge of Where

Edge of Where is an experimental project that takes Edgware Road in London as a reflection on the political and economical reality of Palestine and the clash of this reality with its neighbouring Gulf countries. The title of this piece highlights the economic disparity between extremely rich Arabs and lower income Arabs to create a surreal and disorienting journey across the Middle East.

Gohar Dashti—Today’s Life and War

I capture moments that reference the ongoing duality of life and war without precluding hope. In a fictionalised battlefield, I show a couple in a series of everyday activities: eating breakfast, watching television, and celebrating their wedding. Though they do not visibly express emotion, the man and woman embody the power of perseverance, determination, and survival.

Morgan White—War Child

Louise Mackensie—Enduring Hope

This purpose of this work is to explore and highlight the idea of hope and beauty enduring through all manner of circumstances. Due to personal experiences and circumstances the need to find hope and incorporate family in these final works was more important than ever.

Carl Yoshihara—Peace and War

Let’s bring peace to the world.

Kateryna—My Beloved City Can Sleep Peacefully Now

As most non-Ukrainians do not know much about the situation in Eastern Ukraine, these stories open a window through which the personal experiences and impacts on real people are revealed, shedding light on what actually happened to them beyond a journalistic or political angle.

Ahmad Wardeh—Amman Human Rights Statue

Equal opportunities and far social life for everyone in the community give [me] strength and rigidity and integrity to perform my duties as a key part in society. Whenever these pillars decrease, the efficiency of the positive interaction of the individual with his community decreased.

Chris Prakoso—Hope Square Series

Most are strangers to each other but this bench seems to bind them together, as if some unseen hands of destiny have put them together in the same space and time.

Anni Holm—In This – Together