Adong Judith: How I use art to bridge misunderstanding
Adong Judith: Art per desfer malentesos
Adong Judith uses art as a vehicle to drive social change and trains aspiring makers to create art that dares to ask serious questions. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
who tells social-change stories,
d'històries de canvi social,
touch and move us.
que ens arriben i emocionen
and teach us to empathize.
i ens ensenyen empatia.
of disadvantaged groups,
dels grups desfavorits,
away from social, political theater
d'Uganda del teatre social i polític
by former Ugandan president, Idi Amin.
va perseguir als artistes.
I am breaking the silence
trenco el silenci
conversations on taboo issues,
importants sobre temes tabú,
is the rule of thumb.
"el silenci és sagrat".
and challenge our minds to think,
i ens desafien a pensar,
is its often one-sided nature
és la seva naturalesa unilateral
who see issues differently
coses d'una altra manera
sellout or plain stupid.
o simplement estúpids.
only in different fields.
però en camps diferents.
"stay in your truth" is misleading.
"sigues fidel a la teva veritat" confon.
you believe is wrong
que creus equivocada
avenues of conversations.
possibles per al diàleg.
to touch, humanize
per emocionar, humanitzar
to the conversation table
a la taula de diàleg
will not magically solve all problems.
de forma màgica tots els problemes.
to create avenues
de crear camins
many of humanity's problems.
els problemes de la humanitat.
of the Northern Uganda war
de la guerra del Nord d'Uganda
and Joseph Kony's LRA rebel group,
LRA de Joseph Kony
political leaders, religious leaders,
líders polítics, líders religiosos,
and transitional justice leadership
i líders de justícia transitòria
of justice for war crime victims --
per a les víctimes de crims de guerra.
in the history of Uganda.
en la història d'Uganda.
cover them all right now.
en aquest moment.
to sit at the table
d'asseure's a la taula
the big injustice they suffered
la gran injustícia que van patir
of the war perpetrators.
dels responsables de la guerra.
acknowledged the victims' pain
va reconèixer el sofriment de les víctimes
behind their flawed approaches.
les seves tàctiques errònies.
that has stayed with me
que no puc oblidar
tour of the play,
pel Nord d'Uganda,
que es va presentar
feeling disappointed,
decebuda,
inappropriate laughter.
els seus riures inadequats.
was a laughter of embarrassment
reia de vergonya
of his own embarrassment.
la seva pròpia vergonya.
of his past actions.
de tots els seus actes previs.
les teves veritats.
a more powerfully uniting truth
més poderosa que uneix
would be shocked at my ignorance
els sorprenia que desconegués
like lasagna, for instance.
com la lasanya.
about malakwang,
sobre el malakwang,
richer and fuller individuals.
més riques i plenes.
la teva recepta de veritat.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adong Judith - Playwright, filmmakerAdong Judith uses art as a vehicle to drive social change and trains aspiring makers to create art that dares to ask serious questions.
Why you should listen
Founder and artistic director of Silent Voices Uganda, a nonprofit performing arts company, Adong Judith creates art that provokes meaningful conversation on issues often considered taboo.
Notable among her training programs is the annual Summer Theater Directors Apprenticeship, a two-tier program that combines production and training of ten aspiring theater directors. Originally only for Ugandans, Judith has opened the 2018 and future apprenticeships to aspiring theater directors across the African continent, who she believes share the same challenges in practicum gaps.
In 2018, Judith will be in residence at Illinois State University, where she will direct her 2016 social media buzz-stirring play, Ga-AD!, which explores spirituality and the place of women in Pentecostal churches. Her first social change play, Silent Voices, which she wrote after accidentally encountering the inescapable stories of war crime victims in her hometown of Gulu, developed at Sundance Institute’s Theater Lab, received its world premiere in 2012 at the National Theater of Uganda and was described by the Ugandan media as "the spiritual rebirth of theater since its decline due to political persecution of artists by the Idi Amin regime."
Adong’s plays are taught at Ivy League Universities including Dartmouth College and Princeton University, and she recently signed a contract with Methuen Publishers UK to publish Silent Voices in an anthology of Contemporary African Women Playwrights.
Adong Judith | Speaker | TED.com