This drawing is one of a series within a long term storytelling project on memory supported by the Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP), Uganda and The University of British Colombia.
It was completed by women who returned from rebel captivity after their abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) during the war in Northern Uganda which spanned several decades. These women were abducted as children and forced into marriage and motherhood for between five and fifteen years. Their daily life under the LRA is the theme of this drawing.
Engagement in this project seeded the formation of the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) in 2011. Its focus is on reintegration, reconciliation, and justice for war-affected women. It engages women in various community outreach initiatives - drama, drawing, beadwork and quilting.
At the suggestion of Conflict Textiles, it was agreed to transfer the drawing onto fabric to facilitate its display in Derry / Londonderry, as part of the State of the Art MemoLab outreach activities, within the exhibition State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence. Conflict Textile Fabric Artist Deborah Stockdale facilitated the process of transferring the image of the original drawing onto Irish linen and mounted the fabric print on a backing ready for exhibit.
Two similar drawings were also transferred onto fabric. The second piece resides with Erin Baines, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at The University of British Columbia. The third fabric print was taken back to Uganda by a WAN member who participated in the Transformative Memory International Network 2022 MemoLab: Northern Ireland. This print is now displayed in the WAN headquarters in Uganda. |