In the aftermath of terrible disaster, art and artists often play a role in providing relief for trauma victims and survivors. Many of those that experienced Hurricane Katrina, the Asian Tsunami of 2004, the 2005 London Bombings, and the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, have found some solace through culture and creativity – and there are plenty of organizations out there to assist them in both the short and long-term.
As the crisis in the Middle East continues, art is making an unexpected appearance on the frontline. The caring for hundreds and thousands of internally displaced people in Southern Lebanon has fallen to the country’s volunteer organizations, and among those artists groups, like The SHAMS Arts Collective, have been leading the way. Founder of the collective, theater practitioner Roger Assaf, says he wanted to establish a ‘third space’ which was neither “the ideological and war-mongering thesis of Hizbullah”, nor “the irresponsible rhetoric of Arab oil merchants or Lebanese billionaires”, but was condemning of “the crimes of the theocratic state of Israel … and the complicity of Europe.” Politics aside, the organization has been actively filling a humanitarian need.
