A Starting Point- Ugandan Arts

by Rocca Gutteridge, 20 Mar 2011

I explained below that as well as using this blog to share research and info gathered at and around Artachat sessions I will also track the progress of my current Partners Residency with the Mela Festival and the Scottish Forestry Commission.

I’d like to do this to see how the two ventures might collide and to share the process of not only discussing, researching and critiquing socially engaged, participatory projects but directly discuss the actual doing of them as well.

My residency has very amazingly begun with a month long research trip to Uganda. This was previously set up and organised by myself and Ugandan based charity the Child’s i Foundation but upon receiving the Partners post it was agreed that the trip would form the initial foundations for the 15 month residency.

I should explain now that 50% of the residency is to be spent on my own arts practice and 50% of my time working with ethnic minority groups, using “art as a lens to engage groups into the Scottish environment”. (Quote from project brief). I’m keen to hear anyone’s thoughts on the residency structure.

I returned from Uganda two weeks ago and not to turn you over to yet another website but here is the research I gathered whilst exploring the amazing, often a bit confusing, wild, loving and lush green country they call Uganda:

http://artsuganda.blogspot.com/

Now back to the soft silver skies of Edinburgh I have begun working with a young group from Craigroyston high school in Muirehouse (Edinburgh). They are a music group set up by an inspiring man called Jonathan Omar, an extra curriculr activities teacher at the school.

Tomorrow I’ll be meeting them for the second time, last week I discovered the group’s main interest is to pursue a song they are collaboratively devising- a very cool rap/pop song that made me feel not so cool for admitting my favourite band were the Spice Girls (their early tunes). I’ve decided to take along with me a trunk that whilst in Uganda I filled with locally made instruments, cultural objects and artifacts. I wanted to bring back objects that would act as catalyst for conversations between myself and the group.

I’ll post more soon!