EVALUATING ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT :

THE CASE OF A STREET THEATRE PROGRAMME CHALLENGING RACIST ATTITUDESTeresa Hanley, Independent Consultant

The programme

Programme aim

...to challenge commonly held racist attitudes and negative stereotypes of minorities and indigenous peoples in four countries

Places and partnersLocation Partner Type of

organisationRacism and minority Issue

UK Minority Rights Group

Minority rights NGO Global policy; capacity building.

Kenya SAFE Participatory Arts Org

Post-election violence. Ethnic group based tension in Mombassa coast area

Rwanda YWCA Women’s rights and development NGO

Batwa minority group

Botswana

RETENG Minority rights org Ethnic groups not recognised in constitution

Dominican Republic

MUHDA Women’s rights focused NGO

Haitian-descent population - stateless

Approaching racism and attitudes Participants in

theatre group Process to create

plays Content of plays Audience

discussions Film screenings Media coverage Advocacy

SAFE- film and play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmhIPOigon0&noredirect=1

The evaluation

The evaluation

When - End of programme year 3.

Methods Monitoring data – surveys,

photographs, reports

Content analysis of scripts:- Demonstrates discrimination - Challenges stereotypes - Gender issues integrated- Message

Country visits- FGD and interviews with

actors, communities (gender disaggregated), partners, targets of advocacy.

What the evaluation could show Success in getting

things on the agenda

Successful strategies

Changes achieved• Increased confidence

of minority groups involved

• Self-reported change in actors attitudes

• Increased partners’ capacities, range of tools, networks

Evaluation limitations

Practical issues

Finding people who participated

Discussing the issues

Attribution of change- busy environments, memory

Local partners capacity to undertake monitoring

Challenges in evaluating attitudes

Limited information on drivers of prejudice and range of mind-sets

Self-selection of people to be monitored

Monitoring data shows people reached but not depth of engagement

People – sensitive and not always aware of attitudes

Challenges in evaluating arts Instrumental

approaches dominant

Assessing quality

Attribution when using inter-linking communication strategies

What the evaluation could not doReach but not result

Identify depth of people’s engagement- more than entertainment?

Results of media coverage

Changes in attitude and behaviour

Test assumptions of theory of change i.e. giving space to issues diminishes potential of conflict

Reflections

Reflections for the future

Methodological challenges- change, process, quality

Dealing with tensions between implementation and building evidence

Expand collaboration- arts, private sector, academia, practitioner/community development

Potential of different arts – get more specific

….they don’t admit there is discrimination in the DR. The general sentiment is anti-black but since it is expressed as anti-Haitian it not considered discrimination

We want to make people aware that certain language is discriminatory. They are so used to using it they don’t know. Minorities are so used to hearing it they don’t know

...the professional actors and the director also

became disseminators of the knowledge within our

circles. To a certain degree we are among those who generate public opinion.

The play was an eye-opener to me because as I was acting I realised some of the things being said in the play were things I said...

You don’t usually see Batwa in the media - only in dance troupes when they do

their traditional dance

The biggest achievement is that it helped the youth from the Bateyees. It helped them to leave behind their feeling of

embarrassment from the stigma associated with the colour of their skin and

where they live. And feel proud of who they are. They gained confidence ...Before

they were afraid to speak about these subjects in public.

FROM ANECDOTE TO SYSTEMATIC EVIDENCE

Thank-you!

Teresa Hanley

teresa_hanley@dsl.pipex.com