"Ododo Wa" Community Dialogues

Symbols of belonging

“It belongs to the people later.” (Participant, UNM Participant Discussion, 2019)

"Our Sisters" 
When the exhibit launched in Uganda, the audience discussed how "it belongs to the people" and "tells the story […] to the generations to come." In the Ugandan context, the exhibit encourages reflection on those caught up in the conflict and those who felt distant from it. In those dialogues, nation and kin are central to questions about overcoming hardship and trauma.

In Uganda, some audience members referred to Acan and Amony as "our sisters." Such comments reflect the importance of belonging and kinship in the exhibit's Ugandan reception.  

“I was interested in the skirt. [...] [I]t tells the story [...] to the generations to come [...]  in the next fifty, hundred years. [...] [I]s that same skirt [going] to come back [to Uganda]?” (Participant, UNM Participant Discussion, 2019)

Artefacts
Questions about artefacts featured in the exhibit, and whether they would return to Uganda, also demonstrate how the exhibit spoke to the political and social climate in Uganda. The political will to address survivors' needs has waxed and waned over time. Yet reparations are urgently needed. The audience in Uganda pointed to artefacts, such as Amony’s green skirt and the grinding stone, as national symbols of survival and hardship in war.

These responses to the artefacts, their meaning, and Acan's and Amony's stories, led to reflections about representation, belonging, and the need to support other survivors' storytelling. 

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