During the first week of December in Belgium, the festival « REstART – The Art of Justice, Dialogue and Repair », organised by the network European Forum for Restorative Justice, stands out as a powerful, participatory international event where art and restorative justice come together to inspire dialogue and transformation. Through striking artistic performances, thought-provoking exhibitions, interactive workshops and immersive experiences, the initiatives and encounters offered throughout the festival explore how creativity can open new pathways towards justice, understanding and repair, for individuals as well as for communities.
More than just a festival, REstART presents itself as a collective movement dedicated to systemic change, both within the justice system and across civil society as a whole. It brings together and mobilises artists, researchers, justice professionals, and a broad, diverse public for profound, intergenerational, and multilingual conversations. Together, these exchanges shed light on lived experiences of harm and on mechanisms of repair, while offering a nuanced understanding of alternative justice models and the historical trajectories that have shaped them over the years, in contexts of conflict as well as post-conflict.
The festival forms part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the European Forum for Restorative Justice and continues a strong movement spanning more than forty years in Europe. It gathers in Leuven, a city emblematic of restorative justice, an international community reflecting on today’s challenges related to repair and dialogue. Capital of Flemish Brabant and a resolutely cosmopolitan city where more than 31.5% of inhabitants have a migrant background, Leuven also distinguished itself by winning the title of European Capital of Innovation in 2020. Among its major initiatives, the “Leuven Restorative City” project mobilises a vast network of social, cultural and educational actors, as well as local authorities, to promote, throughout the urban space, approaches to conflict resolution grounded in the values and practices of restorative justice.
Art in the Service of Justice and the Pursuit of Peace
According to representatives of the organising committee, “the connection between the arts and restorative justice creates a space for dialogue, storytelling and deep understanding. The arts make it possible to explore, in an accessible and sensitive way, complex issues such as crime, harm, trauma, conflict, responsibility, reparation and reconciliation.”
The idea of restorative justice, nowadays structured around well-established values and practices, has proven particularly relevant in preventing and countering violent extremism, a major challenge in Belgium, where significant work has been carried out in recent years. Inspired by autochthonous traditions and further developed in North America in the 1970s, restorative justice invites us to rethink the criminal justice system by placing human relationships and lived experience at its centre. It is not about punishing in order to repair, but about involving victims, offenders and the broader community in a collective process aimed at easing tensions and restoring the social fabric.
The trauma caused by a violent act extends far beyond the individual, affecting entire families, communities, colleagues and neighbours. Whereas criminal justice focuses primarily on past events, restorative justice favours a forward-looking approach, attentive to the needs, emotions and personal narratives. It encourages co-created actions rooted in the conscious engagement of all participants, and it has proved particularly suitable for supporting victims of terrorism, as several speakers emphasised during the first events of the REstART festival.
In this context, theatre, visual arts, music and other forms of expression give voice to those affected, strengthen empathy and nurture conversations that are often difficult yet essential. Far from legal procedures alone, art reveals the profoundly human dimension of restorative justice and its genuine transformative potential.
By placing creativity at the heart of its approach, the festival presents works that retrace the journeys of individuals confronted with violence, conflict or crime, highlighting their encounter—sometimes fraught, yet indispensable—with “the other”, whoever that may be. Reaching out to new audiences is one of the programme’s guiding threads, helping to build conversational spaces that foster a deeper emotional and intellectual understanding of alternative justice models.
Immersive and participatory workshops challenge conventional frameworks, stimulate reflection and enable demanding, but necessary, cultural and human exchanges. Through these initiatives, the festival REstART promotes creative practices for transforming conflict, disseminates the latest developments in restorative justice to the broader public, and encourages tangible, lasting social change.
Theatre and Dialogue on Political Violence: La mirada del otro
On 4 December 2025, the European Parliament – and in particular the office of MEP Hana Jalloul Muro – hosted the premiere of the theatre play « La mirada del otro » (“The Gaze of the Other”), presented by Proyecto 43-2, a theatre company dedicated to complex artistic inquiry, guided by a sensitive and open approach and exploring themes such as historical memory and structural violence. Co-founded by the Spanish actress and director María San Miguel, recently honoured with the prestigious El Ojo Crítico 2025 Award from the Radio Nacional de España in the dans la catégorie ‘Theatre’ — a distinction granted, according to the jury, “for a body of work marked by rigour and scenic research” — Proyecto 43-2 develops a form of writing deeply rooted in documentary theatre, where history and memory intertwine in a choral and layered dramaturgy.
The play presented in Brussels is part of the series « Rescoldos de paz y violencia. Una trilogía sobre el País Vasco » (“Embers of Peace and Violence: A Trilogy on the Basque Country”), which has already been staged in several public institutions, including the European Court of Human Rights, the Spanish Ministry of Justice, the ENPJJ – École nationale de protection judiciaire de la jeunesse (National School for Youth Judicial Protection) in France, the French Ministry of Justice, and the Cultural Centre of Spain in Mexico.
With surtitles in French and English to ensure accessibility for a truly international audience, the piece depicts restorative justice encounters bringing together former members of the Basque armed separatist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the families of victims of terrorist attacks. Over its six decades of activity, ETA — which officially declared its dissolution on 2 May 2018, fifty years after claiming its first victim — is considered responsible for more than 800 deaths. More broadly, across the Basque Country as a whole, actions carried out by organised extremist groups between 1960 and 2013 caused 1,004 victims of terrorism and violent radicalism, according to data compiled and made available by the Basque Government.
By retracing this dark period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula — and, more broadly, of Europe — the play unfolds an intimate and profoundly moving dialogue that probes responsibility, healing, and the human capacity for transformation after acts of violence or terrorism. With meticulous writing and perfectly controlled pacing, it represents the culmination of ten years of research, testimonies, and artistic creation, carried out with the support of the Restorative Justice Service of the Government of Navarre.
The play was also performed the following day at the House of Compassion, a symbolic venue located in the Church of Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage, in the heart of Brussels’ historic centre. Renamed “House of Compassion” six years ago, this seventeenth-century Baroque church is now a highly frequented interfaith and intergenerational centre run by volunteers, dedicated to hospitality, attentive listening and solidarity — particularly towards the most marginalised individuals and communities — and placing social justice and human dignity at the core of its mission.
Under the soaring vaults of this history-laden space, the emotion of witnessing the theatrical performance was palpable. The large audience, coming from many countries and involved in peace-building efforts at various levels or eager to deepen their understanding of restorative justice, followed the narrative with great attentiveness. The voices of the victim and the perpetrator of harm guided the audience through a reflection that was at once introspective and collective, inviting each person to consider their responsibility towards their own community and, more broadly, towards all societies confronted with similar forms of violence or with resonant histories.
Un extrait de l’avant-première de la pièce théâtrale « La mirada del otro » (« Le regard de l’autre »), mise en scène le 4 décembre au Parlement européen. Photo: Simon Balckley.
A Conversation with Adelina Tërshani: Where Poetry Meets Politics and Hope
Parmi les artistes présents à REstART, Adelina Tërshani, activiste féministe et performeuse multidisciplinaire, présente une œuvre mêlant poésie, parole et engagement politique. Inspiré par le croisement rare entre art et justice réparatrice, son travail invite le public à envisager des espaces où d’anciens ennemis peuvent se rencontrer et dialoguer. Elle transmet ainsi l’espoir que de telles rencontres sont possibles et que la reconstruction après la destruction est non seulement imaginable, mais également réalisable.
À l’occasion de la Semaine européenne de la justice réparatrice, l’exposition « Trovarsi nella Traduzione » (« Found in Translation / Trouvé dans la Traduction ») est présentée dans le cadre du festival REstART. Selon Adelina Tërshani, les mots peuvent blesser, diviser et dresser des murs, mais aussi devenir de puissants instruments de compréhension. L’objectif de cette exposition artistique et narrative est de transformer le préjugé en empathie et en réconciliation, à travers les 12 mots de la méthode Rondine. Née de l’expérience d’Adelina en tant qu’étudiante originaire du Kosovo à la Cittadella della Pace Rondine, dans l’Italie centrale, l’exposition montre comment des mots autrefois utilisés pour exclure peuvent se transformer en points de connexion à travers des histoires et des photographies, au-delà des barrières linguistiques et autres.
Dissonanze in Accordo : Dialogue, musique et transformation des conflits
À partir d’aujourd’hui et jusqu’au 9 décembre, le festival se poursuit à Louvain, avec des performances et des ateliers immersifs. Parmi eux, Cittadella della Pace Rondine, organisation d’éducation alternative basée en Italie et dédiée à la réduction des conflits armés, présente l’initiative « Dissonanze in Accordo » sous la forme d’un spectacle-témoignage illustrant l’expérience de Rondine et son message de paix. Quatre jeunes étudiant-e-s y partagent leur vécu dans la gestion des conflits : la rencontre avec « l’ennemi-e », le dépassement de la haine et des préjugés, la naissance d’un lien d’amitié et le retour à la maison.
Depuis 1998, le programme Rondine offre à des jeunes issus de pays en conflit ou post-conflit une immersion de deux ans, leur permettant de vivre et de travailler ensemble et de découvrir ainsi l’humanité de « l’ennemi-e » au quotidien. À Louvain, la performance qui sera présentée ce soir à la bibliothèque publique Tweebronnen / de Bib Leuven Tweebronnen combine musique, témoignages et récits de jeunes issus de l’Arménie, du Kosovo, du Mali et de la Serbie, montrant comment le dialogue et l’empathie peuvent transformer la peur et la haine en compréhension et en paix. La paix y est présentée comme une pratique exigeante et profondément humaine , grâce à chaque voix sur scène, qui incarne le choix de l’espoir plutôt que de la résignation, et souligne combien l’engagement des jeunes est essentiel pour construire un avenir harmonieux au-delà des conflits.
Art as a Driver of Dialogue, Repair, and Social Change
Après le riche programme de Bruxelles, qui a offert des opportunités de découverte tant au niveau institutionnel que dans la société civile, ainsi que dans des cadres plus informels, les propositions présentées à Louvain jusqu’au mardi 9 décembre montrent que la créativité peut ouvrir des chemins inattendus vers la compréhension, l’engagement civique et la transformation sociale. À travers chacune de ses propositions artistiques et culturelles, REstART met en lumière le pouvoir émotionnel et social de l’art pour sensibiliser aux processus de justice réparatrice et en faciliter la compréhension et la diffusion à plus grande échelle. Les performances, ateliers créatifs et discussions sur l’application de la justice réparatrice dans des contextes variés montrent comment l’art peut devenir un outil concret pour transformer les conflits et développer des pratiques réparatrices innovantes. En donnant voix aux victimes, aux auteurs/trices et aux communautés affectées, le festival vise à transformer la perception du public et à offrir une compréhension concrète de la réparation et de la réconciliation.
En réunissant artistes internationaux, praticiens de la justice et le grand public, REstART démontre que la justice réparatrice n’est pas seulement une alternative juridique, mais une démarche profondément humaine, capable de changer des vies, de rétablir des liens sociaux et de construire une culture de paix.
Informations pratiques :
- La mirada del otro – 5 décembre, 19 h, House of Compassion, Bruxelles
- Dissonanze in Accordo – 6 décembre, 19 h 30, bibliothèque publique Tweebronnen / de Bib Leuven Tweebronnen, Louvain/Leuven
- Found in Translation – 7 novembre-5 décembre, Bruxelles / 6-9 décembre, Leuven
Le programme complet est disponible ici : REstART 2025 • Meet the Artists
