| Posted: Feb. 05 2005,15:34 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
AYM
endeavor involves utilizing the arts to depict, discuss, and define the
trauma experienced in war-torn African societies. The goal of the art
is to begin not only reconciliation, but also achieve violence
prevention. AYM recently staged "Representations of Violence: Art about
the Sierra Leone Civil War." The art depicted the ravages of war,
serving as a both a catharsis of trauma and a catalyst for conflict
resolution. The exhibition also engages the world's collective memory,
placing the tragedy of Sierra Leone’s Civil War in the context of wars
in modern history, from the Napoleonic wars of Europe, through World
War II to Vietnam, on up to the present in Iraq. AYM’s exhibition aimed
to educate African and Western audiences of a shared experience–––and
responsibility–––building a bridge from disinterest to involvement.
Exhibition presented at:
Porter
Butts Gallery, Memorial Union, University of Wisconsin -Madison,
February 28-March 30, 2003 with the title "Representations of Violence:
Art about the Sierra Leone Civil War."
Art & Cultures
Gallery, Alverno College, Milwaukee, August 18-September 18, 2004 with
the title, "Sustaining Peace in the Wake of Violence: Images
fromthe Sierra Leone Civil War."
VSA Arts of Georgia, Atlanta, March
1-April 22, 2005 with the title,"Truth and Reconciliation: Perspectives
from the Sierra Leone Civil War" held in conjunction with artwork by
survivors of the Aberdeen Amputee Camp.
Published Book:
Representations of Violence: Art about the Sierra Leone Civil
War/edited by Dr. Patrick Muana and Chris Corcoran.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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The main obstacles we are faced with at the moement are:
1. Funding (This has been very difficult for us)
2. Creating a managerial process to translate ideas into action at our national chapters.
3.
Physically bringing together the leaders of the various national
chapters to lay the ground work for our mutually acceptable goals and
objectives, one of which is the GAYA.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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In
support of the Artists whose works constitute the exhibition,
"Representations of Violence: Art about the Sierra Leone Civil
War", we organized the first "Artists Participation and Appreciation
Gala" at the Sierra Leone National Stadium on January 11, 2003.
In
February and March 2003 we organized an international conference and an
art exhbition at the University of Wisconsin, Madison under the theme:
Representations of Violence: Art about the Sierra Leone
Civil War.
The conference brought together Scholars from Europe,
Germany, United States and Africa to educate Americans about a number
of important issues relating to Sierra Leone, the power of art to
document civil injustice and promote individual and civic healing, and
the role that disability plays in culture.
The purpose of the
exhibition focused on exposing how the turmoil of civil war affects the
lives of people. The Sierra Leonean Artists have created moving
visual interpretations that tell stories of the people, of fear and of
hope.
“Representations of Violence: Art about the Sierra Leone Civil
War," is an important achievement within our Movement, for it presents
an opportunity for people to unite in an attempt to see and improve the
conditions in Sierra Leone. This is a prime example of what our
organization does to achieve its goals of the pursuit of peace,
justice, and human rights. A Catalogue of the conference papers
and paintings will be available in March 05 and the E-book version will
follow immediately.
"Power Madness." By Julius C. Parker (Choema)
The
lone soldier in this pen and ink work represents the combined Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Revolutionary United Front
(RUF) of Sierra Leone. The building in the background is the State
house, the seat of government of the Republic of Sierra Leone and its
symbol of political power and authority. The dead and bleeding victims
lie among skulls littered around State House. This is a violent outcome
to political power guided by the gun. The soldier therefore is
symbolizing the insatiable quest for power that led to wanton
destruction of lives and properties during the eleven-year war. The
soldier has come to represent death and, with the power of the gun, has
taken control over State House.
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
The
Secretary-General should ask the UN to give moral and financial
support to organizations like the AYM that focus on telling the stories
of Africa through Art to organize a Global Culture of Peace Art
Movement, documenting the events of the decade of peace and embarking
on a massive travelling exhition to educate and share the experiences
of nations through their Artists with the world to ensure a Global
Collective Memory. This show must also be complemented with an
Online version that can be accessed by people everywhere and it must be
hosted on the United Nations Server. Through art a feeling
of happinessis possible, and happiness leads to peace, peace to
prosperity.
Another advice for the Secretary-General is that
specific criteria must be established to ensure that nations are
committed to the works of their artists and that after the exhbitions,
they will be responsible for permanently procuring these artworks and
displaying them for the public good and for posterity.
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
We
hope to use our online presence, our art exhbition catalogue to
propagate our vision an mission to the world for the peace of Africa.
We
are also a growing Movement, presently with chapters in Sierra Leone,
Liberia, Kenya, Somalia and Nigeria. By the end of the decade we
hope to have chapters in all the African countries. Through this
Movement, we conceptualize, plan and implement programs and projects
pertaining to a culture of peace.
Through our travelling Art
Exhbition which has been shown at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Alverno College in Milwaukee and at VSA Arts of Georgia in Atlanta, we
continue to share the power of art to educate, to inform and to heal in
matters of structual and cultural violence.
We are expanding our
network to institutions in Africa, such as the Albert Margai Institute
of Design, Crafts and Appropriate Technology to establish the Global
Learning and Sharing Center through our Global Learning and Sharing
Endeavor in preparation for our first Global African Youth Assembly
(GAYA) in 2007
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
Our second "Artists Participation and Appreciation Gala" will take place again in January 2006.
We
are planning the first Global African Youth Assembly (GAYA) in 2007 and
annually thereafter with a major focus on a decade of peace in 2010.
We
have also planned and are in the first phase of the project, "Imagining
Africa: Building Bridges and Raising Awareness through Artistic
Endeavors (Working Title)." This project will be completed in
2007 to culminate with the first GAYA.
Imagining Africa has brought
together 15 American Artist with little or no cultural understanding of
Africa and they have begun working and exploring Africa, to learn about
the continent and its people and depict its positive aspects of their
communities and culture for awareness and peace building.
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Postal address of organization
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Twenty-First Century African Youth Movement
P.O.Box 8582
Madison, Wisconsin 53708-8582 U.S.A
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E-mail address of organization
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info@africanartville.org
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Website address of organization
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www.africanartville.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Education for a Culture of Peace
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Human Rights
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Sierra Leone
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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International
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