Artists offer peaceful responses to Paris attacks

Armed with explosives and machine guns, coordinated attackers unleashed a night of terror in the Paris area on Friday. As the international community tries to make sense of the unthinkable, artists are stepping in to offer their responses.

Dimming the lights

Guest host Tom Power checks in with Parisian theatre professional Valérie Nègre, who explains why her theatre decided to go dark.

Q13:46Artists offer peaceful responses to Paris attacks

As the international community tries struggles to make sense of the attacks on Paris, artists are stepping in to offer their responses.

Defying the darkness

While respecting the silence of some, other artists decided that the show must go on. q producer Mitch Pollock offers an overview.

Q6:19q news: Artistic responses to Paris Attacks

Mitch Pollock offers an overview of how artists are paying tribute to peace following the attacks on Paris.

Below you'll find more information about artistic reactions that resonated with us. Please add your own in the comments section below, or tweet us @cbcradioq. 

Madonna

During her Stockholm show, Madonna stopped to speak out against the "senseless ending of precious life" in Paris. Admitting that the tragedy was weighing on her behind the scenes, she spoke out through tears. "They want to shut us up, and we won't let them. We will never let them." 

Saturday Night Live 

On the heels of the attack, the crew at Saturday Night Live opened their show with a bilingual tribute. 

Coldplay & Davide Martello

Coldplay covered John Lennon's Imagine as a musical tribute to the victims ot the Paris attacks. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will be as one."

Also channeling Lennon, German Pianist Davide Martello's performance outside the Bataclan concert hall has been widely shared. 

Jean Jullien

French artist Jean Jullien created the Peace for Paris symbol of solidarity. In it, the internationally recognized symbol for peace was fitted with the city's iconic Eiffel Tower. 

Joann Sfar 

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Joann Sfar offered a secular response to the #prayforParis hashtag. Her tag, #ParisIsAboutLife acknowledges the joie de vivre for which the city is renowned. 

Karuna Ezara Parikh

"It's time to make all places beloved." Poet Karuna Ezara Parikh reflected on the tragedies that make headlines and inspire avatars, and those that don't, in this widely shared poem. 

​Isobel Bowdery 

Amid all the big name artists are also ordinary patrons of the arts, like Isobel Bowdery who was nearly killed while enjoying a rock show in Paris. 

Lee Marej 

Also commenting on the unequal coverage of other places under siege, cartoonist Lee Marej shared this image.