Healing The Wounds of History

Healing the Wounds of History Institute
presents

REPAIRING THE BROKEN BRIDGE

Japanese and Chinese Cultures
Facing the Legacy of “The Rape of Nanking”

A Four-Day Workshop

Facilitated by
Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT,
Associate Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies,
Director, Center for the Living Arts/Healing the Wounds of History

Kuniko Muramoto, Ph.D, Ritsumeikan University
Feminine Life Cycle Institute

Aya Kasai, MA, California Institute of Integral Studies

October 5-8, 2011
Nanjing, China

Playback Theatre Performance

Friday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m.

featuring

Playback Theatre AZ, Japan

Friends Playback Theatre, China

Japanese and Chinese cultures transforming their
historical legacies into constructive action

The Workshop

The “Rape of Nanking”, the massacre and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after it captured Nanking in 1937, has become the most important symbol of the seven-year Sino-Japanese war. There is an impasse between the Chinese’ need for acknowledgement of the enormity of their suffering and resentment and the Japanese’ feeling of defensiveness and shame at the thought of their country committing despicable crimes against humanity. If left unresolved, the bitterness and distrust between China and Japan, caused by this legacy, ultimately threatens the stability of the region, and the world. It is vital that we find ways to enable the people of these two powerful cultures to face their painful history together.

Japanese and Chinese members of the post-World War II generation are invited to participate in a three-day workshop. Participants will explore the impact of their countries' war-time past as well as their common future by sharing their stories and taking steps toward healing personal and collective wounds. Through drama, music, poetry, ritual, dialogue and therapeutic processes, participants will give shape and meaning to their World War II legacies.

FOR INFORMATION CALL

(510) 595-5500, Ext 11
or email info@livingartscenter.org
www.livingartscenter.org

Healing the Wounds of History is a process in which experiential techniques are used to work with a group of participants who share a common legacy of historical trauma. The process was developed by Armand Volkas, MFT, a psychotherapist and drama therapist from Berkeley, California. Volkas is the son of Auschwitz survivors and resistance fighters from World War II. He was moved by his personal struggle with this legacy of historical trauma to address the issues that arose from it: identity, victimization and perpetration, meaning and grief. Healing the Wounds of History helps participants work through the burden of such legacies by transforming their pain into constructive action. Armand Volkas’s work has received international recognition for bringing groups in conflict together: Germans and Jews; Palestinians and Israelis; Japanese, Chinese and Koreans; African-Americans and European-Americans, and Armenians and Turks.

Kuniko Muramoto, Ph.D, Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Feminine Life Cycle Institute

Aya Kasai, M.A. Expressive Arts Therapist
Aya Kasai works in bay area hospitals as as well as conducts peace education workshops.  Aya was one of the Japanese participants of "Remembering Nanjing: Bearing witness to the past, living together in future"International Conference on the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Tragity held in 2007 at Nanjing Normal University and Nanjing University.  Aya is working with a group of Japanese people to raise awareness of this issue and will return to Japan and China in 2008 to co-facilitate workshops with Armand.

Armand Volkas is founder and director of the Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble. He is a psychotherapist and drama therapist in private practice and Clinical Director of the Living Arts Counseling Center in Oakland. Armand is also Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program at California Institute of Integral Studies and Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University. In addition, Armand is creator of Healing the Wounds of History and has developed innovative programs using theatre and other expressive arts for social change, intercultural conflict resolution and reconciliation.

Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT is a psychotherapist and Registered Drama Therapist in private practice and Clinical Director of the Living Arts Counseling Center in Oakland, California where he directs a training program for students, interns and therapists who want to integrate drama therapy into their practice. Drama Therapy uses acting improvisation and Psychodrama as therapeutic tools. He is a Board Certified Trainer in this discipline with The National Association for Drama Therapy. In addition, Armand is Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program at California Institute of Integral Studies and Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University. He has developed innovative programs using drama therapy and expressive arts therapies for social change, intercultural conflict resolution, reconciliation and intercultural communication.

Armand Volkas directs Healing the Wounds of History, a therapeutic approach in which theatre techniques are used to work with groups of participants from two cultures with a common legacy of violent conflict and historical trauma. Healing the Wounds of History has received international recognition for its work in bringing groups in conflict together: Germans and Jews; Palestinians and Israelis; Japanese, Chinese and Koreans; Armenians and Turks; African-Americans and European-Americans, to name a few. He is also Artistic Director of The Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble. Playback Theatre transforms personal stories told by audience members into theatre pieces on the spot using movement, ritual, music and spoken improvisation. Sometimes a story becomes myth, sometimes a realistic enactment: some stories are tragic; others are funny or illuminating. The ensemble is in now in its 22nd year of existence. At the heart of Armand’s work is a profound respect for the power of personal story to build bridges between people and cultures.