2 November 2022: Pioneering Political Renewal and Peace-Building through Arts in Palestine & Morocco

Session four of our Course Journey on “Unleashing the Power of Homes to Pioneer Planetary Regeneration” had a special format in which the participants met the founders and hosts of two exemplary Homes for Humanity, one in Palestine and one in Morocco. They are both experienced senior societal leaders in their respective country and presented their life’s work in an dialogical format. In the conversation we immersed ourselves in questions around the transformation of their inner Home, local Home and the greater impact on the Earth Home.

First we met Zahira Kamal, the host of the Kamal Family Home, exemplary Home for Humanity in Jerusalem. Zahira is a mostextraordinary women leader, whose life has been dedicated to the political liberation of Palestine and, in particular, to theemancipation and empowerment of women, especially from her own home! Zahira is a true role model of living with determination and creating tools to manifest a common vision.

Following, we were introduced to Driss Alaoui Mdhagri from the exemplary Home for Humanity in Casablanca, founder of the internationally active Come to my Home Festival. Driss combines an incredible scope and range of accomplishments, excellence and talents – having worked as professor, head of the country’s leading Politechnic University, as well as a minister with various resorts. Simultaneously, during his entire life, he has always been close to art – and has excelled as a famed poet-performer and accomplished painter.

The common theme of this session was the «renewal of culture through art, integrity and peace».

One vital key learning lies in the acknowledgement of art as a catalyst for the peaceful advancement of communities and society, which makes it essential for the renewal of society.

Another focus was on the Community Engagement: to do things with others, especially things for and with young people encourages the passing on of impactful knowledge and experiential wisdom.

Both hosts and homes truly walk the talk, engaging with whoever they cross, giving hope and respect to everybody – while providing, in an inclusive way, leadership in their societies. Both their homes are a potent demonstration of the power of a single home. Martina Dinkel from Egypt exclaims: “Creating Homes has to do with involving the whole personality. It's not only an institution, it's a home of one's own hearts. Then it can become alive and even become a being. And of course the Arts plays a very essential role in this. Thank you for sharing your life stories.” Niamaat Gamildien from South Africa applauds both Homes and enthusiastically states: “You inspire me to do so much more for the community we serve.”

Other participants experienced the Course Session as follows:

“The overarching theme of session four was the importance of listening and understanding others through understanding oneself. Culture enables both of these processes to happen on an embodied level.

The key observation I would like to share is that conceptual categories of knowledge are not enough to transform and transmute the suffering. There needs to be integration on an experiential level and art is a wonderful vehicle to facilitate this process. I did my PhD in the area of international law with the initial goal to understand why and how people get engaged in mass criminality. I ended up developing a conceptual legal framework but that did not feel satisfying enough. In my current work, I explore the relevance of art and creativity to both reconciliation and policy work. The latter element is about seeing the possibilities for different models of international justice. The reason for engaging with possibilities is to challenge a more linear view of international law that relies heavily on treaties, customs and the general principles of law. In reality, this discipline is susceptible to quantum leaps when there exists consensus about the dire need to make a change. My initiative is called Art and International Justice Initiative (artij.org).”

by Dr. Marina Aksenova (Russia/Italy), Professor of International and Criminal Law at IE University

“The world is our home and this is so ‘future shared’ as we all Co-create a Home on Earth for all. The importance of realizing your power in every situation, loving how Zahira understood this in the face of interrogation and facing Prison you remain true to who you are. Loving how the situation didn’t change your vision, goal, intention, and that’s focus and determination.” by Muziwanele Ngwenya (Zimbabwe), Visual Artist