I have been a theater maker, music maker, and a peacebuilder for as long as I can remember. That’s probably because of my bad memory. I can’t remember vividly what I was before I was this. However, there are certain milestones in my journey that I remember very vividly. One such milestone was the second I realized that everything I do is, more or less, the same. For a long time, it had felt that I had a day job and a night job. Or that I have two split lives in which I was a theater and music maker in one and a peacebuilder in the other. Then it hit me. They are the same! Unfortunately, this post is not about how they are the same. I hope I write that someday. This post is about the series of events that unfolded after that realization and some learnings that happened along the way.

I still believe that everything I do is part of the same thing. I may not be able to name that thing yet, so I’ll just call it life, for now. And the first thing I realized when I realized this is that the arts are so profound and capable of changing lives that they can single-handedly change the world. If everyone could just become an artist, not necessarily as a profession, even if everyone becomes an artist as a hobbyist, or even if everyone is just exposed to theater and music, that can be strong enough to cause change. At that point, I was digging deeper and deeper into improvisational theater (improv) and peacebuilding. The resemblance and cross-pollination were uncanny. The more I learned about each one of them, the more this became apparent.

Then I became a man on a mission. I dedicated every breathing second of my life to using the arts to make the world a better place. I started an organization the goal of which wasn’t merely to develop an improv scene in Lebanon and the Arab world, but also to use the applications of improv for social and political change. Every time I was cast in plays for other actors, I was always looking for the ways that play will contribute to making the world a better place, even if the director didn’t think that that is what they’re doing. Every workshop I led, every time I set foot on stage, they were all in the service of arts for change.

One day when I was digging deeper and deeper in systems thinking as a tool for conflict analysis, it hit me: art will NOT save the world. Now don’t get me wrong. I still believe in the transformational power of the arts, especially theater and music. I still believe that art can create change at individual, social/communal, and political levels. However, I have come to believe that no ONE THING will be able to single-handedly change anything. As a matter of fact, if in some magical way, there was this one thing that is able to create a change in a certain situation, we should not want it. That change will not only be short-lived, but it will also come back to bite us in our asses.

Strategic and long-lasting change, especially in complex situations where change is most needed, happens on multiple levels, across sectors, and in a multi-disciplinary fashion. Strategic change happens at the level of the whole system. And all systems are interconnected. For example, one can’t create change in the agricultural field of a certain place without it affecting the industrial field, services, education, economy, etc… Wanting to go in the other direction is also true. If we want a big change in an economical system, we need to make sure all the systems connected to it are also changing. Or at least, since they’re going to change anyway, we need to be aware of how they are changing. The deepest and most efficient change happens at the level of mental models - a cultural change. And the culture itself is responsible for it, as well as every other culture it’s connected to. It is supposed to take all the time cultures take to evolve. It is supposed to happen at the grassroots level, where culture lives and breathes, but also at communal levels, policy-making levels… Otherwise, going back to the state before the change will always be within reach (which is not always a bad thing, but in case we want something to change for a long time, it’s important to know this).

That being said, we should be aware that art is not always needed. Sometimes a simple brochure does its job better than a play. Other times, maybe a policy change is needed and then supported by mechanisms of adoption by the people. Sometimes, yes I dare say it, a meeting is needed. Now, of course, some of the more avant-gard artists working for development reading this might say “But but Raffi! Arts can be used differently on multiple levels, across sectors, and in a multi-disciplinary fashion.” I know that because I believe that, too. But just because it can be utilized it doesn’t mean it’s always the best solution.

Of course, I am aware of everything the arts have to offer that other tools don’t have; accessibility, immersion, levels of expression, and many, many others. I understand that arts are also very sexy for funders and other stakeholders in general. But, I have learned the hard way, that if something can be done in any other way than the arts, then I should do it in that way. Only when the arts provide the sole solution do I resort to the arts. Arts require a lot of resources (time, money, people…). If they are not your only solution, use something else. Doing this is actually of service for the arts and artists as well. It increases the “success rate” of the arts and it starts being taken more seriously. Even by its biggest advocates who think it’s just some fun and play, but not the real work.

I’m sure you’re going “Whoa! What’s happening here? Aren’t you one of those advocates who is not taking the arts seriously?” My short answer is No. My longer answer is:

My deepest passions are still the arts, especially theater and music. I still believe they are some of the strongest tools to instill real and strategic change. I am just trying to do it more strategically now. I’m trying to make sure they are part of the whole culture, and that they are part of what’s creating the mental models we live in. I’m trying to hit as many leverage points of systems with them. I’m trying not to duplicate initiates. I’m trying to not do harm, especially in the places where I have the best of intentions. I’m trying to link their existence as best as I can to the analysis of the situation.

In the case of theater specifically, if the liveness of it and the possibility of audience interaction are not needed or utilized, then I won’t do it. There’s probably another way to do it that requires less resources and creates a bigger impact. Even if you think you’re doing “theater for the sake of theater” or “just for entertainment” (which I think is impossible, but let’s say it is for the sake of argument here), don’t go through the hassle of putting up a play if you’re not going to use two of its strongest aspects; the liveness and audience interaction (not necessarily through talking with them).

From this point of view, every bit of art I make becomes a catalyst for real change, not just those that are done in the context of “art for development” projects. Or else, I won’t make it at all.