L’art a été utilisé pour communiquer les préoccupations environnementales dans les pays sahéliens. Néanmoins, le dialogue dirigé par les arts entre les acteurs politiques et les citoyens est cependant rare, bien qu’il ait le potentiel de trouver des solutions aux problèmes socio-environnementaux complexes. Il est indispensable d’exploiter ce potentiel, alors que des défis, tels que le changement climatique, s’accélèrent et touchent les populations. La sensibilisation aux processus de dialogue menés par les arts pourrait être renforcée, parallèlement à davantage de recherches sur les contextes dans lesquelles ils sont appropriés et sur la meilleure façon de les utiliser.
Citizen and policy groups address environmental challenges in the Sahel, but rarely together. In Sahelian West Africa, including in Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali, artists and citizens have used protest art to make their voices heard, in contexts where this can carry risks of conflict with authorities. Artists sometimes act as engaged citizens, who can draw on their artistic talents to communicate a message. This paper explores how far art may be used as a tool for dialogue between different groups on environmental concerns in the Western Sahel.
Across West Africa and East Africa, policy actors and citizens have tended to discuss socio-environmental issues in ways that recognise emotional, subjective viewpoints, but can be antagonistic. Although deliberation literature suggests that collaborative arts-based activities can encourage consideration of affective dimensions, their major value in these emotive, hierarchical and antagonistic contexts is to promote more convivial working relationships.
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