Webinar: Arts and Culture as Psychosocial Support in Emergencies: Ethnographic Insights from Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings
This webinar organized by the Red Cross Red Crescent Research Network invites Dr. Albane Buriel to share insights based on participatory ethnographic fieldwork across Syria, Iraq, Mozambique, Romania, and Bulgaria. Dr. Albane Buriel’s PhD study argues that arts-based and cultural practices must be integrated as a structurally embedded pillar of emergency Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) rather than being marginalized as secondary, recreational activities. The findings demonstrate that while creative practices foster vital, non-pathologizing spaces for agency, dignity, and collective healing, their transformative benefits are not automatic; instead, they depend entirely on specific pedagogical, relational, and facilitation conditions. Ultimately, the research calls for stronger ethical frameworks, long-term programming, and specialized practitioner training to address key challenges such as power asymmetries, the instrumentalization of art, and the emotional exposure of facilitators in crisis environments.
This webinar will aim to answer a set of questions including but not limited to:
- How do arts-based practices generate distinct, non-pathologizing psychosocial spaces compared to conventional MHPSS?
- What specific pedagogical and relational conditions are required for artistic activities to achieve transformative psychosocial effects?
- What ethical tensions and power asymmetries arise when arts-based practices are integrated into humanitarian programming?
This session will be moderated by Dr. Yasin Duman, Research Specialist MHPSS Hub.
Dr. Albane Buriel
Albane is the Co-Founder of Art to Face and a PhD researcher in Education Sciences and an associated researcher at University Rennes 2, within the Centre for Research on Education, Learning and Didactics (CREAD). She specializes in arts-based approaches to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in emergency, conflict and post-conflict settings. Her work lies at the intersection of research, humanitarian practice and cultural action, with a particular focus on how artistic and cultural practices can support psychosocial wellbeing, agency and meaning-making in contexts of prolonged violence and displacement. She has conducted multi-sited fieldwork in Palestine (oPt), Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Eastern Europe, working closely with local communities, artists, educators, NGOs and international organizations. Her research draws on ethnographic and participatory methodologies, including participant observation, arts-based and biographical devices, and collaborative knowledge production. Albane is the founder of Art to Face, an organization dedicated to arts, culture and education in emergencies, and she teaches in several universities on humanitarian action, MHPSS and arts-based education. Her work critically examines both the transformative potential and the ethical tensions of using art in fragile contexts, including issues of power, emotional exposure, care and sustainability. She is particularly interested in how arts-based practices can complement conventional MHPSS interventions by creating spaces for expression, cultural recognition, collective repair and long-term resilience.
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