REstART Festival on the art of justice, solidarity and repair (2020)

On 30 November – 5 December the European Forum on Restorative Justice is organising an online the REstART festival on the arts of justice, solidarity and repair. The event includes artworks on restorative justice and related topics (e.g. prisons, sexual violence, violent extremism, environmental justice, hate crime).

Introduction

2020 marks the 20 anniversary of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. It was founded in a small Belgian town, Leuven and today it is the largest network organisation in Europe promoting restorative justice. To celebrate its birthday the organisation created REstART, an online art festival that is first of its kind, bringing together high-quality artworks that explore restorative justice and their creators. Restorative justice is an increasingly recognised way of addressing crime and other conflicts. The surge of the different artworks (films, documentaries, theatre productions) in recent years demonstrates the growing social attention around injustices and the search for adequate answers to them.

REstART gathers the most remarkable initiatives: it will showcase award-winning movies and documentaries on restorative justice and serious harm, a stage production with formerly incarcerated performers from the US, a book presentation questioning the rituals of the traditional justice systems, a comic strips workshop, photo exhibitions, and a piano concert. Participants can join the live online meetings with the artists, activists and practitioners involved in the productions. The contributors of the festival come from ten different countries and three different continents. Due to the pandemic, the entire programme will take place online. Participation is free of charge, the organisers welcome donations that support the event.

The following artworks are the highlighted artists:

• Sharon Daniela (USA) artist and professor focusing on arts and prisons: https://www.euforumrj.org/en/interactive-documentary-inside-distance-usa
• Motus theatre (USA) with the JustUs performance by formerly incarcerated people: https://www.euforumrj.org/en/justus-stories-frontlines-criminal-justice-system-usa
• Peter Vermeersch (Belgium) with his book on the meaning of justice and punishment: https://www.euforumrj.org/en/book-meaning-justice-and-punishment-belgium

To view the programme and to register, please visit the organisers’ website here: www.euforumrj.org/en/REstART 

View press release for an overview of the festival: https://www.euforumrj.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/REstART_Press_Release_s20_11_2020.pdf