Guns, Art-Making, and Truth: Public Dialogues on Gun Culture | National Humanities Center

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Guns, Art-Making, and Truth: Public Dialogues on Gun Culture

Storytelling; Activism; Poetry; Performing Arts; Oral History
Student organizers from “Guns, Art-Making, and Truth” line up to take a bow in front of an applauding audience. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News.
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Date: April 24, 2024
Organizers: Humanities Lab, Arizona State University
Being Human Festival (US)
In Arizona—and across the country—we are all in need of dialogue that fosters connection and understanding in the face of gun violence. Arizona State University’s Humanities Lab, in collaboration with faculty Daniel Roumain and Laura Turchi and their undergraduate and graduate students, hosted a public conversation with local community members to explore the role of guns in our culture and today’s debates over gun laws and regulations.

Committed to “making meaning for and with the community,” festival organizers took up the role of fourth responders: “expressing, through art, the impact of gun violence on the community in ways that open dialogue and support healing for those who are harmed.” Within the event, organizers performed and promoted both critical and creative “fourth responder” community works, which included critical discussions of gun violence in video games and film, a full-color print magazine for parents and children to talk about gun-related issues, and a performance piece based on interviews given by people convicted of gun violence. All of these exhibits interwove humanities and arts-based research in order to incorporate lived experiences and engage critically with controversial perspectives. They also offered visions for a sustainable future that embraces safety and security in every community.

“I think the audience received information and imagination from all the contributors in equal parts. The day was a collision between data and dreams, and how all of us can embody and imagine a shared, radical morality built on the promise of learning from, listening to, and participating in a broad, equitable world of ideas and boundless empathy.”

–Daniel Roumain, Festival event co-organizer

Storytelling; Activism; Poetry; Performing Arts; Oral History
One of the first projects that organizers undertook was to select a representative image that would depict the event’s thoughtful consideration of the constructs of gun culture in parallel with art-making, without being overtly provocative or triggering.
According to organizers, this event was “designed to build creative and critical skills.” Consultants, community members, teachers and students all offered different perspectives on gun culture in the United States, as well as various approaches to researching this “grand social challenge.” The event, which was located at Arizona State University’s senior living community center, was predicated on intergenerational dialogue and exchange.

“Through self-expression, we can share ideas and experiences that can lead to safer, more understanding communities.”

–Fiona Sauve, Festival event presenter

Hadia Aslamy, an ASU student pursuing a graduate degree in English literature and a student in the “Guns, Art-Making, and Truth” Humanities Lab course, shares her research outcome to an intergenerational audience. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News.
Fiona Sauve, a graduate student pursuing a degree in narrative studies and a student in the “Guns, Art-Making, and Truth” Humanities Lab course, plays her violin in concert with her team’s performative research outcome. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News.
Event guests and community members take in multi-dimensional presentations and performances designed to facilitate reflection and exchange. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News.

Event guests and community members take in multi-dimensional presentations and performances designed to facilitate reflection and exchange. Photos by Charlie Leight/ASU News.

“Our team … presented two poems based on interviews we conducted with real people who committed gun violence. The first poem, ‘The American Way,’ was from the perspective of a man who assaulted someone with a deadly weapon. The second poem, ‘Triggers from the Past,’ was from the perspective of a man who was prosecuted for first-degree murder.”

–Fiona Sauve, Festival event presenter

Leading up to the festival, facilitators participated in a series of workshops that focused on “how to conduct meaningful, non-extractive research with multiple publics,” as well as how to incorporate knowledgeable voices from field experts, community members, and others with powerful lived experiences. According to festival organizers, “these experiences enabled responsive and responsible art-making.”

One community participant, Bobbie Reed, sees the event’s investment in intergenerational exchange and open dialogue as “a movement … that benefits the greater good.”

Media Coverage

Maureen Kobierowski, “Students host gun culture storytelling event with an intergenerational audience,” ASU News, May 6, 2024.