Last month, the Centre des Arts of the International School of Geneva hosted an exhibit focused on our Mid East Storytellers program and the stories of Palestinian and Israeli activists living and working in the region. Organized by ALLMEP and Pendulum‘s project partner, B8 of Hope, the exhibit is the first in a traveling series that will take place in galleries and public spaces around the world.

The series hopes to bring these activists’ stories to new audiences in an interactive format, and help amplify the often overlooked voices of grassroots peacebuilders working in the region. This program proudly included participants from ALLMEP, B8 of Hope, Darkenu, Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, New Story Leadership, Parent Circle Families Forum, Road to Recovery, Roots, Standing Together, Tech2Peace, Women Wage Peace, Yala Young Leaders. Too often, these voices are lost in the discourse about a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. Instead, ALLMEP, B8 of Hope, and Pendulum are working alongside these activists to bring their perspectives and stories to the front of the conversation.

The inaugural exhibit opened with remarks from jury members of the MES festival: Isabelle Muller, director of the Centre des Arts and Dr. Ahmad Abu-Akel Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, and a lecturer of experimental cognitive psychology at the College of Humanities, EPFL. There were nearly 40 people in attendance on opening night and the exhibit ran as a featured display for an entire month.

As we continue to showcase this work, B8 of Hope will be leading a street art installation in Geneva in June 2022. The installation will take these same stories and bring them to the center of the city, where they can be viewed in the public sphere. Stay tuned for more updates about these installations and where you can find more Mid East Storytellers content.