The Art of Peace in Northern Uganda

“…although ‘a painting can never stop a bullet’, a painting can stop a bullet from being fired.”

—William Kelly, Conflict Resolution and Arts Practitioner (2003: 117)

I. Introduction

The Acholi people of northern Uganda have endured a brutal and complex war for over two decades. Although formal psychosocial support is often inconsistent, inaccessible, or culturally inapt, the Acholi’s use of artistic expression—including dance, art, music, drama, storytelling, and creative writing—enables the reconstruction of social and cultural identities that have been challenged by violent conflict. The restorative qualities of art in its various forms offer great opportunity for peaceful reconciliation by serving as a vehicle for self- expression and the negotiation of individual and social identities and relations. For war- affected youth, such creative expression can enable transformation, both individually and communally, of their realities from the wreckage of war towards acceptance and a construction of peace that includes social rehabilitation and conflict prevention. In turn, artistic expression empowers young people to serve as community educators using creative skills and knowledge. This multimedia essay highlights the use of creative arts as peacebuilding tools and a means to foster personal and community empowerment among war- affected youth.

Kees Epskamp (1999), one of the foremost scholars to analyze the role of arts in peacebuilding, proposed that both the process and product of art- making may be used as tools to support reconciliation, rehabilitation, commemoration, and community building. Epskamp introduced a framework to illustrate the role arts can play during conflict and postconflict situations for the individual, community, and society alike. More recently, Michael Shank and Lisa Schirch (2008) expanded this framework to include ways the arts might be implemented within various stages of conflict and peacebuilding, including examples of potential arts- based approaches and activities that could be useful within these various stages (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Diagram of conflict stages, peacebuilding strategies, and art- based peacebuilding activities (adapted from Shank and Schirch 2008: 231).

Although arts stand to play an important role in the facilitation of peacebuilding, they are often overlooked or dismissed by peacebuilding practitioners from the social and political sciences in favor of initiatives with more concrete methodologies and quantifiable outcomes (Shank and Schirch 2008: 217). Yet, art- making offers the “opportunity to express oneself imaginatively, authentically, and spontaneously … can lead to personal fulfillment, emotional reparation, and transformation … [T]he creative process, in and of itself, can be a health- enhancing and growth- producing experience” (Malchiodi 2006: 6).

Art is both physically and psychologically beneficial, particularly for those who have been exposed to events that may threaten psychosocial well- being (McNiff 1992: 1). The arts can provide a much- needed forum to integrate devastating past events into the present to allow for a more hopeful future. Furthermore, the cohesion often achieved in a group setting allows for creative expression with space to incorporate culturally specific elements as well as practice in seeking and offering communal support alongside exploration of individual and group identities. Creative arts offer opportunities for expression that can elevate mood, promote insight, and stimulate recovery regardless of whether an individual is working independently or in a group (Hanebrink and Smith 2012).

A participant explores her own image, physicality, and individual identity by using a photograph to render a self- portrait. ² This activity facilitates refltection on her role within the Acholi culture, the subculture of war- affected youth, and the larger postconflict community. Photo Credit: Lily Harmon- Gross, 2009.

This photoessay highlights the creative process as a catalyst for peacebuilding and reconciliation among Acholi youth by exploring themes of self- expression, cultural knowledge, safety, individual and cultural identities, empowerment, relationships, and nonviolence. ¹

II. Self-Expression

Communication theorists posit that the majority of human communicated meaning is nonverbal (Wood 1992). Symbols, facial expressions, and body posture convey information in ways that verbal communication cannot. Trough symbolic references, many art forms enable the expression of emotions and thoughts that may be difficult to communicate verbally. When...