Disclosing Cultural Narrative and Identity Through Art Practices in Uganda Maria Palmo
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The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2010 The ra tistic process in community development : disclosing cultural narrative and identity through art practices in Uganda Maria Palmo Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Recommended Citation Palmo, Maria, "The ra tistic process in community development : disclosing cultural narrative and identity through art practices in Uganda" (2010). Doctoral Dissertations. 377. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/377 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of San Francisco THE ARTISTIC PROCESS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: DISCLOSING CULTURAL NARRATIVE AND IDENTITY THROUGH ART PRACTICES IN UGANDA A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Leadership Studies Department Organization and Leadership Program In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Maria Palmo San Francisco Spring 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Dissertation Abstract The Artistic Process in Community Development: Disclosing Cultural Narrative and Identity Through Art Practices in Uganda This research studies the use of art as a transformative medium for community development in contemporary Uganda. The focus of this research is on the creative process of art practices and how these processes may raise development issues to the level of discourse. It is at the level of discourse that locals in concert with development artists can discuss the issues of sustainable development. In conversation, the community thinking and future are resolved through stories, which in turn, may lead to ownership resulting in sustainable actions. Issues are brought to the community members and the community art developers through the creation of art narratives. An art narrative is a development message or story created through the use of visual or performance art mediums. This study focuses on illustrations, paintings, sculpture, and drama. Employing art mediums to create development narratives awards community members an alternative for communicating deeply rooted sentiments that are not easily articulated in speech. Art in and of itself does not supply answers; however, art narratives provide a venue to highlight community stories so that the focus of discourse centers on development issues that are particularly relevant to the local community members. A critical hermeneutic field-based protocol (Herda 1999) provided the framework for this participatory research. The data were collected from interactive conversations with Ugandan artists and developers, and transcribed into working texts. Drawing from critical hermeneutic theorists (Ricoeur 1984, 1991, 1992: Kearney 1988, 1998, 2002), texts were analyzed using the research categories narrative, identity, and imagination. ii There are three primary findings: 1) during the creative process discourse on development issues propels and expands new understandings reached by community members as the art narrative unfolds; 2) the identity of members in the developing community is challenged during the creative process and the self is understood in relation to the other; 3) embedded in the creative process is a critical imagination that weighs what is known and what is yet to be realized. The process of art narrative development creates venues for people to use their critical imagination to bring into focus a more sustainable future. Such a future comes through changing one’s understandings of the issues at hand and carrying out actions with a renewed sense of ownership and agency. Implications of this model are discussed in reference to community developers, organizational leaders and educators. iii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Maria Palmo April 8, 2010 Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Ellen A. Herda April 8, 2010 Chairperson Date Daniel McPherson April 8, 2010 Date Betty Taylor April 8, 2010 Date iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I humbly extend my appreciation to all of the people who have generously supported me during my research for this dissertation. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Ellen A. Herda, Dr. Daniel McPherson and Dr. Betty Taylor for granting me the opportunity to conduct research on the artistic process. I am profoundly grateful to Dr. Herda who was my Advisor during my master’s and doctoral studies and Chairperson on my committee. Dr. Herda’s mentoring, high standards, and unrelenting drive inspired me during the most challenging times. I applaud her patience and will always remember her words of wisdom as an academic and a caring friend. I am extremely thankful to Dr. McPherson for the opportunities he provided during my academic studies and for the enthusiasm he demonstrated when I proposed my research on the creative process. I extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Taylor for her advise on my topic and passion for Africa. I am indebted to my parents and friends for their emotional support and for understanding the awesome undertaking of doctoral research. My parents taught me to diligently pursue my aspirations. They encouraged me to persevere, offering to me their sound advice and warm embraces. I am extremely thankful to my friends for their unwavering optimism and incredible gastronomic delights throughout my graduate studies. I could not have completed this research without my parents and friends. Finally, I offer my sincere gratitude to all the artists in Uganda who shared with me their passion for art and deep concern for the human condition. Their work extends well beyond aesthetics and embraces the other. Through our conversations and subsequent correspondence I learned that our art and our work should be done with and v for others; for we are all interconnected regardless of our unique culture. In particular, I warmly offer my thanks to Nuwa, Lilian, Vincent, Fred, and Faisal who were always willing to give more, even after our initial meeting. Their contribution reminds me that this research is only a small donation to the ongoing quest for a deeper understanding of how art may contribute to the needs of our communities. I will never forget the Ugandans who opened their hearts to me as I searched for truth. vi Is not art, in the largest sense, poiesis, a function of both revelation and transformation? So that one may say both that poiesis reveals structures which would have remained unrecognized without art, and that it transforms life, elevating it to another level. Paul Ricoeur (2003: 182) vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES............................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE: STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE ....................................................... 1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 Background of the Issue............................................................................................. 2 Significance of the Issue ............................................................................................ 6 Summary....................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND OF UGANDA ..................................................... 8 Introduction................................................................................................................ 8 Geography..................................................................................................................8 Economy ....................................................................................................................9 The People of Uganda.............................................................................................. 10 History of Uganda.................................................................................................... 12 Colonialism and Indirect Rule of Uganda ...................................................... 12 Independence .................................................................................................. 13 Art in Africa and Ugandan Society.......................................................................... 14 Summary.................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................... 19 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 19 Development Practices............................................................................................