Adong Judith: How I use art to bridge misunderstanding
Judith Adong: Kuinka luon taiteella siltoja väärinymmärrysten yli
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,
kertoo sosiaalisen muutoksen tarinoita.
touch and move us.
and teach us to empathize.
ja opettavat empatiaa.
of disadvantaged groups,
olevien ryhmien ääntä.
mikä on pitänyt
away from social, political theater
poissa sosiaalispoliittisesta teatterista
by former Ugandan president, Idi Amin.
johtaman taiteilijoiden vainon jälkeen.
I am breaking the silence
rikon hiljaisuuden.
conversations on taboo issues,
keskustelua tabuista,
is the rule of thumb.
toimii nyrkkisääntönä.
and challenge our minds to think,
is its often one-sided nature
on sen yksipuolisuus,
who see issues differently
muulla tavoin ajattelevat
sellout or plain stupid.
takinkääntäjinä tai ihan vain tyhminä.
only in different fields.
ainoastaan eri aloilta.
"stay in your truth" is misleading.
"Pysy totuudessasi" on harhaanjohtava.
you believe is wrong
että mielestämme väärässä oleva
avenues of conversations.
to touch, humanize
koskettaakseni, inhimillistääkseni
to the conversation table
keskustelupöydän äärelle.
will not magically solve all problems.
ratkaise taianomaisesti kaikkia ongelmia.
to create avenues
mahdollisuuden luoda tie
many of humanity's problems.
ongelmien ratkaisua.
of the Northern Uganda war
uhrien haastatteluihin,
and Joseph Kony's LRA rebel group,
kapinallisryhmän välillä.
political leaders, religious leaders,
uskonnollisia johtajia,
and transitional justice leadership
siirtymäkauden oikeusjohtajia
of justice for war crime victims --
oikeudellisista ongelmista kriittisesti,
in the history of Uganda.
cover them all right now.
to sit at the table
saman pöydän ääreen
the big injustice they suffered
kokemansa suuren vääryyden,
of the war perpetrators.
uudelleen sijoittamista.
acknowledged the victims' pain
uhrien kärsimyksen,
behind their flawed approaches.
tekojensa takana.
that has stayed with me
tour of the play,
Pohjois-Ugandan kierueella
Joseph Konyn sotilaaksi.
feeling disappointed,
pettyneenä,
inappropriate laughter.
was a laughter of embarrassment
nauruansa tuli häpeästä.
of his own embarrassment.
of his past actions.
merkityksettömyyden.
a more powerfully uniting truth
yhdistävän totuuden
would be shocked at my ignorance
järkytti tietämättömyyteni,
like lasagna, for instance.
kuten lasagnea.
about malakwang,
richer and fuller individuals.
ja kylläisempiä yksilöitä.
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