ART WORKS Projects: Claiming Public Space for Human Rights

Abstract

ART WORKS Projects (AWP) was born out of desperation. A photo of a small boy who had been murdered in a genocidal attack against civilians in Darfur by a Sudanese government intent upon their eradication led to the formation, first, of the DARFUR/DARFUR exhibition of large-scale exterior projections and, eventually, to AWP. The founders, by and large architects, filmmakers, editors, photographers, lawyers, and designers, weren’t naive enough to believe that art can always end genocide (or any other grave human rights abuse), but they knew it impacted them and so they theorized that the same could happen to policymakers, voters, and, ultimately, perpetrators.