Art and Culture
Art, music and culture in general have great transformative and healing potential. Artistic expression creates safe spaces for dialogue and listening, supports the processing of emotions and trauma, and serves as a means of keeping memory and past experiences alive. Through the many languages of art, in creative and innovative ways, we can transform conflicts and build peace. Hip-hop culture, as a transformative movement, is a good example of this.
Aware of this potential, ICIP works with a wide range of cultural actors committed to promoting peace. Our partnerships with theatres, museums, festivals and cultural and policy institutions enable us to foster a culture of peace through new perspectives and forms of expression. As part of this commitment, in recent years we have established collaborations with the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), the Fundació Pau Casals, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Festival IMPACTE!, Docs del Mes, Ruido Photo and PEN Català, among others.
Conferences and activities
With the aim of promoting a culture of peace among a broad audience, ICIP organises and collaborates in conferences, debates, film screenings, participatory activities and cultural initiatives that connect artistic creation with peacebuilding. These initiatives provide spaces for reflection and exchange that are open to the public, the cultural sector and everyone committed to the promotion of human rights.
One notable example in 2026 is ICIP’s collaboration with Docs del Mes, the monthly documentary film series organised by DocsBarcelona. Through documentary screenings and post-screening discussions, ICIP helps create spaces for reflection on peacebuilding, human rights, memory, contemporary conflicts and major global challenges. Films such as The Dialogue Police, Writing Hawa and Amazomania illustrate how documentary cinema can become a powerful tool for fostering critical thinking, public debate and a commitment to social transformation.
Hip-hop as a tool for peacebuilding
Hip-hop culture is much more than an artistic expression: it is a tool for resistance, self-representation and social transformation. Born on the streets as a response to exclusion, violence and discrimination, it has become a collective voice that challenges dominant narratives and gives a platform to those who have too often been silenced.
Through its direct and creative forms of expression—rap, graffiti and breakdancing—hip hop connects with the realities of young people and provides a powerful means to share their experiences, denounce injustice and create new narratives. This urban culture promotes values such as peace, solidarity, empowerment and respect, while fostering community spaces that encourage participation, social cohesion and critical thinking.
For the past decade, ICIP has worked with hip hop as a tool for promoting a culture of peace. One of its flagship initiatives is the ICIP Hip-hop for Peace Contest, which celebrated its tenth edition in 2026. In recent years, ICIP has also collaborated on other projects, such as the Artèria gathering and the publication of the book Hip Hop as a Tool for Peacebuilding (In Spanish).
Exhibitions
Exhibitions are one of ICIP’s key tools for bringing conflicts, violence and peacebuilding processes closer to the public through the transformative power of art, photography, critical reflection and personal testimony. Since its creation, ICIP has produced a number of exhibitions offering thoughtful perspectives on realities from different parts of the world, with the aim of raising awareness, fostering empathy and promoting a culture of peace.
From everyday resistance in Central America to Europe’s visible and invisible borders, and from the creative power of the protests in Istanbul to the courageous dialogue between women in Palestine and Israel, ICIP’s exhibitions invite visitors to reflect on the causes and consequences of violence, as well as on the many ways of building peaceful coexistence and justice.
In this spirit, ICIP recently launched PolsXtrems: Your Gym for Training Critical Thinking, an innovative exhibition that focuses on polarisation, disinformation and hate speech. Through an immersive and participatory experience, the exhibition encourages visitors to cultivate curiosity, question their own biases and strengthen the skills needed to live together in diverse and complex societies.
