Al Jazeera’s Artsworld series looks at how different cultures around the world use art to bring social change in their communities.

This week’s programme, which you can watch here, showed examples from four very different cultures:

The Freedom Theatre in Palestine gives young Palestinians a way to express themselves as well as an alternative to hanging out on the streets. (Unfortunately their website didn’t seem to be working when I wrote this)

The China Disabled Peoples’ Performing Arts Troupe gives opportunities to perform to disabled people who often face discrimination when going about their daily lives.

Circo Picolino in Brazil provides a circus school which sometimes turns into a career for young people who may not have other alternatives.

Bongo Flava is an emerging fusion sound from Tanzania, inspired by hip hop, rap and R&B.

Each project reflects the culture of the country in a distinctive way. What they all have in common is their goal of using art to bring purpose and joy to individual lives and hopefully contribute to a wider social progression as well.

About the author

Lucy is English and first ventured out of the UK she was 19. Since then she has lived in 4 different countries and tried to see as much of the world as possible. She loves learning languages, learning about different cultures and hearing different points of view.