History

2024 is In Place of War’s 20th Year Anniversary. From the beginnings of a research project at The University of Manchester in 2004, In Place of War has become a global charity operating with a network of 130 change-maker organisations who are making change with the arts across places of conflict, and in the Global North with ground- breaking youth-led programmes inspired by the innovative change-makers across the world.

In a rapidly changing world and, following our responsive programmatic shifts during the pandemic, In Place of War has developed a new, futureproof strategy. It responds to the needs of our change-makers across the world and the communities they serve, often as symptoms or consequences of critical global challenges we face as a planet - our accelerating climate crisis, increasing threats to civic spaces, brutal armed conflict impacting civilians, the cost-of-living crisis, and increasing inequality.

  1. Founded as a University of Manchester project to conduct academic research around the role of arts in places of conflict.
  2. First book published by the organisations’ founder Professor James Thompson — Performance: In Place of War.
  3. First network of artists established from places of conflict; bringing together academics, artists and activists in from the DR Congo, Kosovo and UK to share best practice.
  4. Development of IPOW Tools to support growing international network of creative change-makers, including education, cultural spaces and collaboration programmes.
  5. Launch of CASE (Creative and Social Entrepreneurial) Programme in Bosnia.
  6. First music collaboration — 20 musicians from conflict zones arrive in the UK to create a music collaboration across major festival platforms, reaching tens of thousands of people.
  7. $400,000 of music, theatre and arts equipment collected for distribution across cultural spaces.
  8. Core support received from the Mark Leonard Trust to build organisational capacity and expand reach and impact of work.
  9. First brand partnership with MasterCard Foundation to deliver CASE Programme in its 18th country, Uganda.
  10. Theatre and Disability; GRRRL - development of artistic cultivation and collaboration.
  11. Over $50,000 of Covid-19 emergency grants issued to grassroots organisations across the world, helping support over 250,000 people.
  12. CucuSonic + 100 Agents of Change
  13. Art of Peace: South Africa + The Living Museum
  14. CASE MALTA + 100 Agents of Change: Manchester x Detroit + EarthSonic
  15. 20th Year Anniversary