MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 1

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to send to you our first newsletter of 2009. It has been an extremely busy and productive year thus far, and we are delighted to show you some of the highlights. Please note that we will start sending much shorter newsletters more frequently (every 1-2 months) in order to provide you with brief, up-to-date information.

By being a part of this journey with us, together we will reach more communities that are in need of inspiration and hope. Please feel free to forward our newsletters on to your friends and contacts who may be interested in learning about us.

Thank you for your continued support,

Hilary Wallis and the AfA Team

Executive Director

NEWSLETTER

Sustainable Empowerment Through The Arts

ABOUT USArtfully AWARE uses the arts

as an important tool for social improvement and emotional recovery of persons who have experienced traumatic events, disabilities, or living conditions. We also believe in the ability of the arts to inspire, promote positive change and provide hope in communities worldwide.

Artfully AWARE seeks to implement a range of educational arts programmes locally, nationally and internationally, in order to promote empowerment, cultural understanding and enable sustainable development.

Artfully AWARE provides services to Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), humanitarian agencies, arts organisations, youth and community groups and educational institutions.

In support of the national curriculum of the host country, Artfully AWARE offers ready and tailor-made arts programmes that explore the use of multimedia to enhance communications messaging. Artfully AWARE creates and facilitates educational partnerships by linking schools and communities through artistic projects and visual expression.

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 2

Volunteer

We are currently looking for creative people willing to share their time and talents. As a volunteer for Artfully AWARE, you can help us achieve our mission by becoming an active supporter of advancing the arts in your area or internationally.

Please download our application form from our website and email us with any questions.

volunteer@artfullyaware.org

Get Involved There are many different ways you can become involved in Artfully AWARE’s present and future. The generosity of our donors, supporters and volunteers makes our work possible.

please visit our Get Involved Page

ARTFULLY AWARESUMMER EVENTS

Summer 2009 will be Artfully AWARE’s first major drive to put the organisation’s name before the public and promote the many types of activities we are involved in. Our AfA Consultants are excited to perform, speak and showcase what it means to be Artfully AWARE, and we hope that if you’re in the area, you’ll come out and see us!

SIERRA CLUB AWARDS DINNER, 6 JUNE, NEW YORK

“Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to

protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organisation in the United States.”

Artfully AWARE will be at the NY Chapter’s Awards Dinner to feature and sell beautiful paintings and artwork by our African community participants.

FIGMENT FESTIVAL, 12-14 JUNE, NEW YORK

“FIGMENT is an explosion of creative energy. It’s a free annual celebration of participatory art and culture where everything is possible. For one weekend each summer, it transforms NYC’s Governors Island into a large-scale collaborative artwork...then it’s gone.”

Artfully AWARE will be running a participatory theatre programme called The Garden. This will be hosted by our USA director Melissa Kate.

PARADISE GARDENS FESTIVAL, 20-21 JUNE 2009, LONDON

“See Victoria Park magically transform into a

modern day pleasure garden for a weekend packed full of events and entertainment in the heart of the East End, London.”

Artfully AWARE is hosting a trade stall which will showcase our new Product Line. Information about Artfully AWARE’s objectives, projects and programmes will also be available.

NOT PART OF FESTIVAL, 5 JULY, MANCHESTER“The Not Part Of Festival is Manchester’s most inclusive, edgy arts festival. We are

dedicated to making it as easy as possible for artists of all disciplines to get their work on and seen when the Manchester International Festival brings the world’s cultural spotlight to our city.”

Artfully AWARE will be hosting an Art in Action event. Listen to paint thrown against canvas. Watch the musician try to keep up. Let your artistic senses remain confused, or challenge yourself and participate in the fun of mixing two genres into a compelling whole.

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 3

NATIONAL THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE, 27-28 JUNE, SCOTLAND

Programmes Director Emily Hatfield has arranged for a team to embark on an intense physical challenge to raise money for a Media Workshop for The Kids League Uganda.The Challenge involves climbing

Britain’s three highest peaks – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon – all within 24 hours.

All funds raised will be going towards The Kids League Foundation, an international NGO registered in Uganda that provides sports programmes for young people aged 5 – 14 years. Their main objective is to break down barriers separating young people and their communities by developing teamwork and education through sports and the use of 'Sports Plus' activities. These activities compliment school-based learning. TKL runs programmes across Uganda and is well known in the northern conflict zones where it uses sport to reconcile communities and reintegrate former child soldiers.

This workshop is being hosted by Artfully AWARE and The Uganda Arts and Media Academy. A partner of AfA, the Uganda Arts and Media Academy is a charity that provides the skills and training of film production to young Ugandans. They have designed a workshop, exclusively for TKL, to train children across the ability spectrum in film production in order to promote integration and build perspectives based on mutual respect. The children have the opportunity to use the media to tell their own stories from their own point of view. The workshop will consist of training sessions where participants will get support from the UAMA team so that the final outcome will result in completed films. The children will receive a large deal of hands on experience in media and production techniques while learning valuable life skills.

GREENBELT FESTIVAL, 28-31 AUGUST, CHELTENHAM

“Greenbelt is an independent

Christian charity working to express love, creativity and justice in the arts and contemporary culture in the light of the Christian gospel. And if the initial draw of the Festival in the 1970’s lay in its unashamed celebration of the arts, particularly rock music, the appeal broadened as a growing internationalism emerged from the concerns of festival organisers.”

Artfully AWARE is hosting a stall providing information about our programmes and services as well as showcasing our new AfA Product Line.

MUSICPORT FESTIVAL, 23-25 OCTOBER, YORKSHIRE

“Musicport was established in 2000 to promote live music and music education in Whitby and the surrounding area with its primary event being Musicport World Music Festival each autumn. Over the last nine years the festival has grown year on year and has established itself as a prestigious event in the festival calendar.”

Artfully AWARE will co-ordinate a live painting event relating to the performances on stage while showcasing African artwork. We are planning to receive participation from local artists and schools.challenge yourself and participate in the fun of mixing two genres into a compelling whole.

Contribute

The gift that you donate today will dramatically help us maintain our programmes in communities by purchasing art supplies, funding teachers and training participants in new skills. With this sustainability, we will be able to create and develop new programmes and projects globally.

Give a gift on behalf of yourself or a loved one. For UK and European residents, please visit us here.

For US residents: Network for Good

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 4

ARTISTS’ VOICESNew Section of Our Website

Art is a motivator, a force of empowerment and a source of support for people of all races, nationalities, ages, economic situations and genders. Art comes in the form of strength to those who lack confidence, wish for a mental escape from harsh environments or who seek to restore happiness and hope in times of great need.

These are artists who recognise the problems that their countries are facing while developing creative and innovative approaches to address these issues and bring about change. They are visionaries, providing inspiration and optimism in the face of the struggles their communities are confronting.

Featured Artist: Hashmat Abdul, from Rwanda, Poet

Hashmat Abdul, born on the 24th July 1983, in Ruhengeri (now Musaze) Province in Rwanda, had a peaceful childhood till the age of 7, and then all changed forever.

“We were forced to move away as the country was torn into a civil war in 1990, and we took refuge in

the neighboring country called Zaire... I tried to have a stable life with my family after we had lost everything. But hidden beneath, there was non-stop tension in the country. We never knew there was preparation of a war to come.

In the beginning of 1993, the situation in Rwanda became extremely delicate, and due to insecurity my parents moved us to Burundi for safety. We lived there for almost six months, and then there was another coupe d’état which lead to the death of the Burundian president. In the mist of the chaos we managed to return to Rwanda. In the beginning of 1994, we did not know what was to come.

On the night of 6th April 1994, the Rwandese president’s plane was shot down as it was landing on an airstrip. This was the trigger to start a genocide lasting for a period of 100 days .

We stayed in our home for almost three days, where we witnessed numerous atrocities that a child at that age should never have to see. Finally, we were told that they offered protection and safety at the Hotel Mille Collin (also known as Hotel Rwanda) where my uncle had already taken refuge.

It was ‘a call of destiny.’ We were evacuated in the middle of the night when some fighting had ceased and had to run from the hotel parking area protecting ourselves from flying bullets above our heads. But we had made it, and we felt we were safe for the moment.

Two days while we were still hiding in the hotel, other people who had just come in, informed

my family that our house had all been burnt to the ground. By luck, we had already left, thus loosing everything again once more. This is was the real ‘call of destiny.’

We watched as all foreign embassies came to collect their citizens and left us all behind. Still, I held on to the little hope I had left that we would be next. I was hoping and praying… all to the mercy of what was happening beyond the walls of the hotel.

We had run out of food and water, so we started drinking the swimming pool’s water and what the hotel could provide us for food, while others simply prayed.

But our prayers were answered, thanks to Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire, whom at the time was working as the Force Commander of UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda). This man has a heart of gold. He posted some of his men to the entrance of the hotel to protect us. This kept us all alive. Now the author of the book, ‘Shaking hands with the Devil,’ he actually did shake hands with the devil-- as he managed to speak to the leader who was organising the massive killings. Dallaire arranged for a convoy to Burundi to escort the body of the murdered Burundi president. He created a passage way out for all of us who were left behind. He saved thousands of people including me and my family. I owe my life and the life of my family to this man. And if it wasn’t for him, today none of us would be alive to tell.

Continued on next page

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 5

ARTISTS’ VOICESContinuedOnce in Burundi, we moved

back to Congo, and from there we lived for three peaceful years, finally in a stable country and a stable home. Eventually, we all needed a way of taking out what we had all endured and we each had our own way. All of us are different. My older sister started keeping a diary, and my brother put his thoughts into lyrics, and later became a well known hip hop artist in Uganda.

I, with my love for words and literature, expressed myself in poetry. If things ever felt easier to say differently, then I gave poetry the chance to express what I wanted to directly say.

This continued on for many years. My family said there is no place like home, and they eventually decided once things became more stable they would face reality and fear and move back to Rwanda. I did not go. For a few years, I lived and worked in Uganda, as I felt I still needed time to go back home to the country where I call home. Rwanda: the country were I was born-- the country known as a 1000 hills, 1000 memories, 1000 tears-- and now a country of hope and renaissance and 1000 smiles…

Now, present day, I have faced my past and moved back home to Rwanda. I am currently living and working in a tourism company, and I am proud of my country and all it has done to recover from it’s past, like ‘a rising Phoenix from it Ashes’…”

Read Hashmat Abdul’s Poems

BATIK INCOME MAKING PROJECT

Written by Eunice E. Katwani Obbo,

Chairwoman of Mbula Artfully Aware Club (MAAC) in Uganda

“On behalf of Mbula Artfully Aware Club, I invite and welcome you all to this article. It is said, ‘the starting point of all achievements is desire.` It is Mbula Artfully Aware Club’s desire to write this article for all of you to read.

Mbula is a parish in Petta sub-county, Tororo district in Uganda. Mbula Artfully Aware Club was formed in February 2008. This art project was initiated by Hilary Wallis, the Executive Director and the founder of Artfully AWARE (AfA) and her Team. I therefore give my special thanks to the AfA Team for sparing their precious time to come to Mbula in Uganda for such a noble cause. Further more, I give credit to Plan Uganda for their good lobbying skills that has enabled us to link with such an organisation. I will not forget to thank our partners in learning PIL from Ireland for extending their support in facilitating the Batik Making Project in Mbula February this year. Batik training was quite an amazing and fantastic experience for us in Mbula, and we

have embraced the project with great enthusiasm.

I wish to bring to your attention that this art project has stimulated our minds and has made us discover that art lies within us and lives with us. These activities are part of our daily lives, but which we have been taking for granted. To us, there was nothing remarkable about them. It was as if by their familiarity, they failed to register in our minds. In their passing, often the art was lost-- but more especially-- our

traditional way of life. This project has made us learn that `Art` does not discriminate-- man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, literate or non literate. What

matters is ‘we are being given a voice or opportunity.’

AfA gave us an opportunity, and we were able to produce batiks in February this year. We feel that with continuous practice we can make more and better ones if continued to be given the same support and opportunity. We did not think that we could make batiks at the initial stage but alas, we made it! Now, most of our time is spent on drawing, painting, singing and telling stories instead of gossiping and becoming disorderly. Through art, we can get to know ones’ problems, likes, dislikes and so forth. We feel art skills can offer a fulfilling and rewarding life frequently spent in a beautiful and unspoiled environment.

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 6

BATIK INCOME MAKING PROJECT

ContinuedI would also like to say that it

is of vital importance to introduce children in Art/Batik making for them to learn to appreciate what is around them. There is every hope for the survival of artistic talents in order to take control of our own destiny. I am convinced we can mold a generation that is not only successful but is able to create jobs for themselves and for others too.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that this project, if supported, will make a huge impact to our lives: psychologically, socially, morally and economically. `ART IS MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL`

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

AfA at the United NationsArtfully AWARE had the

opportunity recently to showcase itself to well-established international organisations at the UN Artisan Fair, an event designed to highlight women's rights, women's products and to support the empowerment of women through craft and trade.

In a small room on the second floor of the UN Church building in NYC, where a number of workshops and seminars on human rights were being held, a dozen tables were covered with colourful materials, objects, books, clothing and jewelry that women around the world had designed and created. The floor was covered with beautiful hand-spun rugs, and

in the corner stood out our table: Artfully AWARE, whose gorgeous Ugandan artwork demonstrated that empowerment could be attained through the fine arts, as well as the crafts.

Our greeting cards were quite popular, as many of the visitors were attending seminars and wanted something small to carry away with them. We received a lot of

compliments and inquiries as to our programs, and people liked the ability to mix and match cards.

Artfully AWARE was warmly welcomed into the Artisan fold, and we look forward to more opportunities just like this one to build our connections and raise funds through the sale of our artists' work. One of our new contacts has been in touch with us about developing new programs, and so we offer our thanks to our superb volunteers Suzanne Hyde, Joey Naham, the Executive Team who provided all the necessary materials by mail, and also to Suzanne Harvey who invited us to attend.

Melissa KateUSA Director

COMMUNITY BOOK UPDATE

The Community Book Project is now fully up and running

between Brookfield Community School in Chesterfield, England and the Karin Children’s Medical Centre in Gulu, Uganda. The second set of books have been received in Gulu with great enthusiasm, featuring the topics, ‘Seasons’, ‘Weather in Chesterfield’ and ‘Festivals’ such as Christmas and how festivals are

celebrated in the UK.The project is proving to be a great success and a source of excitement for the students. Lucy Morgan at Brookfield says, “I think that it’s very exciting that we get to write a book about ourselves and send it to someone because it is

going to another country." Sophie Dewick says, “I felt excited about making the book because we knew that the children would enjoy learning about what life was like for us in England."

Sophie also spoke of how she feels about waiting to receive a book from the children in Gulu, “I feel quite nervous to receive the book because I don’t know what to expect. Also, it will be interesting to find out all about their lives and the differences between us and them." Robert Macleay says, “I’m excited about receiving the book because I want to learn all about what their life is like." Since the inception of The Community Book Project last year, the students are thrilled to be involved. It is proving to be a very positive exchange between the two countries.

Evonne HillSchool Education Director

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

PAGE 7

NEW! AFA ONLINE ART EXPERIENCE

An income reduces poverty levels immeasurably yet many communities have limited opportunities when it comes to participating in income generating activities. Artfully AWARE is actively creating a Co-operative in Uganda made up of skilled artisans and is planning to expand to additional countries in the near future. Artfully AWARE provides Arts programmes, materials and training, and participants have the opportunity to create beautiful products such as paintings, jewelry and crafts which can be sold to generate an income, thus reducing poverty. Artfully

AWARE also assists in teaching, marketing their artwork and practicing good business skills.

We have developed our new Artfully AWARE Online Art Experience where you can purchase over 80 different AfA designed gifts including clothing, children’s accessories, framed pictures and items for your home and office. The service includes domestic/international shipping, credit card payment processing and phone/email customer service support.

Please click here for AfA's Online Art Experience

Presented by Jan Jordaan, Director of Art For Humanity

“Dialogue among Civilisations forms the basis for a new initiative by Art for Humanity (AFH). It involves collaboration between artists and poets from Africa and those countries who participated in the 2006 Soccer World Cup. The aim is to inspire the viewer with ‘moral ownership’ — through engaging with the creative works, for the public to internalise the values espoused by the art and poetry. These values include creativity, freedom of expression, human rights, excellence, dignity, pride, inspiration, reflection, cultural heritage as well as respect for individual rights and independence.

The ultimate objective is to elicit and challenge the South African public’s views on xenophobia, racism, refugees and foreign visitors in and to South Africa. These views are presently couched in an endemic magnitude of racism, xenophobia and victimisation of those individuals and families seeking refugee status in South Africa or as visitors and amongst South Africans themselves.

Please click here to read more about Art for Humanity

Kenneth Lukwgo was selected to represent Uganda in poetry together with AfA Ugandan Representative, Justin Igala for this project.

Kenneth created the poem “Rainbow Colours” based upon Justin’s painting entitled, “Unity of Purpose.”

Please click here to read more about Mr. Lukwgo and Mr. Igala

DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILISATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

MAY 2009 ISSUE 3

Rainbow Coloursby Kenneth Lukwgo

Let’s gather and play ballPurge every step we have falteredEvery forbidding frontier smother

Neither creed nor raceShould matter.

Let’s gather and play ball

We shall toss and kickAnd pass the ball

And fail not to score the goalSinewy muscles, gleaming sweat

Oh to win would be glorious gain!Though loss would not be

So much of shameIf the lesson of the game

Is more than fame

Rainbow colours, tenacious echoDifferent tongues, unison song

So we shall have said it allThat we gathered and played ball!

More shall we be of brothersNo longer shall we be strangers

Let’s gather and play ball…

Information

For any questions or comments, please email us at: create@artfullyaware.org

For more information about us, please visit our website:

www.artfullyaware.org

Artfully AWARE, INC.501(c)(3) Public CharityNew York, NY

Artfully AWARE, CIC.Community Interest CompanyRegistered Number: 06589913London, England

AfA Blog

Please follow our AfA Blog to read up to the date information about us as well as other artistic movements in development and education.

Visit our Blog