Ariana Phillips-Hutton

Research focus

My academic interests centre on questions of violence, peace, and justice as they relate to the arts in general, and to music in particular.

My research in this area began in 2013 examining formal musical responses to the political process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.

Since then, my work has expanded to take in the challenges of artistic engagement with both shocking violence such as the Rwandan genocide and so-called ‘slow violence’ of poverty, migration, and climate change.

My work often sets examples from Africa in a global context and I use historical-analytical methods, as well as engaging with philosophical approaches, to think through what the arts (and arts education/ initiatives) can and cannot do for society.

Recent projects

In 2023–2024 I collaborated on two small projects, one around community radios and grassroots peace-making in Nairobi with colleagues in Kenya (Strathmore University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology), and another on decolonising knowledge production in the arts working with local artists in Gulu, Uganda.

In 2024–2025, I served as mentor for a project around displacement, climate change, and musical protest in eastern Uganda.

Professional links

I also have professional connections to colleagues at the Department of Performing Arts and Film at Makerere University in Uganda and the School of Music at Rhodes University in South Africa.