Sophie Naime is Theatre Art Lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. Sophie has always been passionate about supporting the arts in PNG. She leads the only specialised theatre, media and performing arts academic undergraduate program in the country. While at the university she widened student participation and appreciation for the socially engaged arts working with the industry to support students immersive learning opportunities. She has choreographed and directed performances around health and other social issues and, through this, encouraged conversations amongst students and the audience about pressing social issues.
Her recent research investigated how the arts can provide ways to understand the impact of violence on women and families in communities. Sophie’s work looked at how communities can identify community-driven strategies that draw on their cultural and social practices to support women, families and their communities to mitigate the impact of violence on women and families. In her research project, she identified that a cultural framework that is inclusive of men and women is important to understanding ways in which violence manifests and ways in violence can be prevented and reduced. She used arts-based processes to understand communities’ approaches and to explore the underlying tensions that exacerbate violence towards women in communities.
