WHAT YOU
CAN DO
THEATER
THE EDGE OF PEACE
Adapted by Suzan Zeder,
UT Department of Theater and Dance
Produced by the Seattle Children's Theater in 2013, perhaps this play is waiting to happen here in Austin.
The editors of this site searched high and low for news of theater productions celebrating Peace Day or even peace itself. All we found is this one item about Suzan Zeder's play.
Let us know if we can see it in Austin this September as part of our Peace Day Austin celebration.
Learn more about Seattle's production.
THE ARTS
“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul.”
– Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Engaging in arts activities is a great way to participate in Peace Day! Art, music, dance, theater, poetry, creative writing, photography and film are engaging and powerful ways to express our thoughts, emotions and visions about peace. Art has the power to touch our feelings, to awaken empathy and connect us to our common humanity. The arts give creative voice to our human experience and can connect us in ways dialogue sometimes cannot.
VISUAL ARTS
ARMED WITH THE ARTS, A PEACE CRANE PROJECT
Make peace cranes with messages of peace that can be given to those near you or delivered to student groups across the globe! See Peace Crane Project Instructions in the video below:
Create an Austin Peace Flag project with images and messages
of Peace. String them together to make a peace garlands! Do them in your neighborhoods and schools. Or even in a storefront.
Fields of colorful pinwheels with art, designs, words of peace and harmony. This is happening in many countries now. Click on the picture below to learn how!
MAKE AND FLY ART DOVES OF PEACE
Thousands of giant and small peace doves fly on and around Peace Day due to the inspiration of UN Messenger of Peace, Dr. Jane Goodall. Download small peace dove Instructions.
It's a fun way to build community and share images of peace! Since this initiative began in 2006, thousands have done a Chalk for Peace event.
MUSIC
PLAYING FOR CHANGE DAY
PFC Day coordinates with Peace Day (On 9/19 for 2015)! PFC Day is a creative day of action that uses the universal power of music to create positive social change. Musicians from all over the world perform on stages, street corners, schools, etc., to bring music into the lives of young people. This day of music keeps instruments, music instruction, and inspiration flowing to children all around the world! For more info on Playing for Change Day, CLICK HERE.
CREATE A GLOBAL SINGALONG
Watch this global singalong for inspiration. Then do an Austin global singalong. Do it as flashmob in a park. Do it intentionally in a school or church — or where you work.
DANCE
ONE DAY, ONCE DANCE
If you're a dancer, a dance teacher or simply someone who loves to dance, then One Day One Dance is the perfect way to express your passion for peace on or around Peace Day, 21 September. Whether you choreograph a dance, dedicate your lesson or organize a flash mob - One Day One Dance is open to your creative interpretation. For more info, CLICK HERE.
EARTHDANCE
Earthdance is a world of communities, working and playing together to create a culture of peace, through music and dance events, synchronized global link-ups, and social activism. For more info, CLICK HERE.
See Earthdance Video below:
FILM, PHOTOGRAPHY:
VIEW DOCUMENTARIES OF LOCAL AUSTIN FILMMAKER, TURK PIPKIN
The Nobelity team believes that documentary films are powerful tools for change: presenting critical issues, raising important questions, and illustrating potential solutions. Here is the trailer for their award-winning film on Peace. For the full feature, visit the Nobelity Project site.
Images For Peace is a call to action for all who want to post images of peace on Facebook. Add YOUR images to this very interesting collection of work.
VIEW AND DISCUSS 3 SHORT FILMS ABOUT PEACE
These films are by award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris. He won the Oscar for his documentary, The Fog of War. These films are from the perspective of Leymah Gbowee, Lech Walesa, and Bob Geldof. They are each roughly 15 minutes long and can be viewed separately or together. CLICK HERE TO VIEW.
EXPLORE PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO AS AGENTS OF SOCIAL CONSIOUSNESS
Explore the ideas and themes for photography projects related to peace, visit the International Guild for Visual Peacemakers website. Watch IGVP’s “Take the Journey” video HERE.
CREATIVE WRITING AND SPOKEN WORD:
SICA's Poems for Peace began here in Austin and has now spread to many other cities and countries. Visit the "Write Your Own" section of SICA's Poems for Peace site for ideas and inspirations to create your own Poems for Peace. You can also publish your poems online or turn them into chapbooks. Or they can adorn Peace Lanterns, or Pinwheels for Peace, or Peace Flags.
One Million Poems for Peace is Facebook group that welcomes poems posted on the topic of peace from now till the United Nations International Day of Peace (September 21, 2015) and the annual Poems for Peace event sponsored by SICA.
Your poems can be poems that you write, you love, you remember. Please credit poems you did not write. They can also be songs, prayers, or quotes for chalk poems, peace lanterns, or peace flags.
JOURNAL BUDDIES' 53 WRITING PROMPTS FOR PEACE
Peace Day encourages understanding, compassion and tolerance. In this set of writing ideas and journal prompts, students are asked to think about the importance of peace and the potential for it in the world. Isn’t it exciting to think that all it takes is one great writing prompt to spark a child’s imagination about the possibilities of peace in our world!
WRITING FOR PEACE
Writing for Peace is a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating empathy through education and creative writing in order to develop a foundation of compassion on which to build a more peaceful world. Their goal is to inspire and guide young writers to refine their craft and to consider the many ways their writing focus can bring us closer to nonviolent conflict resolution, a society that values human rights, as well as environmental and economic sustainability. This site is full of good resources. And they publish on their site.