Living Pictures for Peace
Living Pictures, or Cuadros Vivos, belong to a Colombian tradition from the village of Galeras Sucre.
This practice is an artistic device of embodied portraits where people stand still for a certain amount of time representing a specific scene in order to share with the audience a cultural message. Contents may be of different nature: cultural practices, historic topics, literature, ancient traditions, everyday life, political facts, or any other theme that is felt important by their creators.
Moreover, Living Pictures are a tool for cultural diplomacy, giving visibility to ICH and cultural identities in their uniqueness, sharing those practices in a visual, artistic and embodied way.
We brought this powerful methodology and tradition to Japan, inviting both ICU students and local community groups of the neighborhood to create their own version of a Japanese and a blended cultures Living Picture. The participants felt reconnected to their territories and values, discovering also the pleasure of meeting elements from other cultures in producing and observing the artistic installations.