Songs Across Boundaries

Songs Across Boundaries is a documentary songwriting project led by Teaching Artist Melodi Var Öngel, developed through international peacebuilding work in Turkey, Armenia, and Cyprus.

The project grew out of two peace initiatives funded by the Davis Foundation, where Melodi worked with communities in regions affected by conflict. In a TEDx talk at Bath University, she reflected on this work and on her use of documentary songwriting as a tool for social change and cross-cultural connection.

Through facilitated songwriting sessions, participants shared stories from different cultural perspectives, which were then transformed into original songs and performed publicly in Cyprus. The Cyprus project brought together narratives from communities on both sides of long-standing divisions. Over the course of the project, ten songs were created and shared through a series of public concerts.

These experiences deepened the project’s focus on the role of storytelling, communication, and music in building understanding across difference. They also led to the development of additional documentary songwriting projects supporting women who have experienced sexual violence, veterans, and refugees seeking asylum in Belgium.

Songs Across Boundaries reflects an ongoing commitment to collaborative songwriting as a tool for connection, dialogue, and peace-building across cultures and communities.