Drawing from my doctoral research conducted within the international Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP) project (2020–2024), the study examines youth-led arts practices in multi-ethnic and post-conflict communities in four regions of Kyrgyzstan. The research combines ethnographic fieldwork, participatory workshops, and practice-led inquiry, situating the voices of young people at the centre of knowledge production about peacebuilding.

The paper presents two key strands of data: (1) embodied narratives produced during body-mapping storytelling workshops with young people aged 12–18, and (2) Forum Theatre performances developed by MAP Clubs as dialogic interventions in schools and community settings. Body mapping, as a visual and narrative methodology, revealed deeply personal representations of intra- and interpersonal conflicts, loneliness, gender inequality, and intergenerational misunderstanding, while also visualising aspirations for safety, belonging, and the future. Forum Theatre, meanwhile, created collective spaces for the performance of social tensions around labour migration, child neglect, and gendered violence, inviting community members, educators, and policymakers to intervene as 'spect-actors'. These artistic encounters challenged normative hierarchies between youth and adults, reframing young participants as active agents in decision making  processes.

The study applies Bourdieu’s social theory, particularly the concepts of field, capital, and habitus, to analyse how these participatory art practices constitute a new “field within a field” of peacebuilding. Within this creative field, young people accumulate social and cultural capital, gaining recognition and agency to engage in public dialogue and influence local decision-making. The findings demonstrate that arts-based spaces foster intergenerational communication, empathy, and social cohesion, allowing participants to reimagine themselves not as passive subjects of social structures but as critical agents of transformation. 

By interweaving embodied and performative data, the paper highlights how local cultural forms and participatory arts practices can act as pathways for recognition, empowerment, and the reconfiguration of social relations post-conflict transition. The research suggests that arts-based peacebuilding in Kyrgyzstan not only facilitates dialogue but also redefines the epistemic space where knowledge about conflict, identity, and hope is collaboratively produced.