Informal focus group discussion with boys in the AFA painting workshop June 2010: Location: Gulu, Uganda Program: Boys are part of the 3 day AfA painting workshop. A few are also part of the community book exchange program. All attend St. Martin Lukome Primary School. Person interviewing- Theresa McElroy DISCUSSION: Tell us about Artfully Aware: We have not heard, you could tell us and we would get to know about it. It’s the organization that’s been working with you on the painting and community book programs Community book club, painting. I didn’t do proper introductions, lets take some time and you can tell me your name, class you are in, your age. ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Sex M M M M M M M M
Class P7 P5 P6 P5 P5 P7 P7 P5
Age 16 13 15 14 13 15 16 12
Ok, thank you, when did you start the painting program? It was three days ago Can you tell me about it? 8- We drew pictures and we painted them. Great. 8-I was drawing about life in our homes. Anything else? It has made me very happy.
Anyone else? 2- When we drew pictures and painted, later they told us about the community book, how the community book connects us the students of Uganda with students outside of Uganda. The pictures we are drawing, we send them to those students and those students send them back. We thank you for the program you have brought that connects people. 1- We were drawing and painting pictures to show our culture. We always see foreign cultures but we decided to draw about our culture so it can also be known outside Uganda. It has really excited me. Anyone else? We are waiting for another question. What impact does participating have in your life? 7-This painting is so good because there are things we did not know about, like painting, we had not know about it, so we got the opportunity to paint and see the paintings of other students outside. It is making us so happy because we do the actual drawing and painting ourselves. 4 –The very good thing about this is before we use to draw and we would colour using pencils and we would pound leaves, the green colour of leaves is what we used to use but now we are using different colours to do our painting. Great, so what impact does that have in your life? 2-It has widened our knowledge of such things. We also used to use flowers, but we didn’t know there were colours, so it has widened our knowledge. We know there are people outside who do the same things like they are teaching us. Anyone else? 6-I am so excited I don’t know what to say. What about it makes you excited? 3-It makes us so excited. 1-The painting has been a very good thing, it has changed my life but we want to learn more, this is our idea, we have never been taught anything about drawing and painting, we want more of it to be done, maybe in our school. What impact would it have to get more? It would increase our knowledge. Through this painting we can express ourselves through the painting and we can show people what we want in our lives.
2- If we have learnt how to draw and paint it will help us impact others lives by teaching them the same skills that we have. What types of things do you express through your painting? 1-Through this drawing and painting we can show people the types of houses we live in, we can show them that we still live in huts while others are living in what? in good houses. Also we show our culture, how we dance, the richness of our culture. 2- Through this painting we can preserve our culture. We draw them and they are kept and future generations can see how people were living in these days. Great, what else do you express through painting? 6-Through paintings we can express our feelings, when you are sad, you cannot draw a happy picture and when you are happy you cannot draw a sad picture. 7- We can show the way we live, how we study. Why is important for people to know that? 7-The reason why we want to draw our homesteads is to show people that we are still backwards, because when we compare our pictures to the pictures we are receiving from abroad, our lives are not to that extent, we want our lives also to improve to that level. 1- We are also expressing how our parents trained us in our homes, trained us by the fire, but in other countries they train them in a different way….. Someone mentioned expressing feelings, is it helpful to paint to express your feelings? 7-This drawing really helps me a lot because when we are idle we are thinking of so many things. But while we are drawing it takes some time out to divert our minds onto something else. Anything else? 8- This painting distracts us for the time we are doing it, from the lives we have gone through and when we think about it its not so good, but the time we are painting it distracts us. 1- When I am sad, when I start painting at times it corrects my sadness, my sadness turns into …… because I want to make my picture perfect. If you are sad and they give you something to paint, what does it do for you? 5- If I am sad and I start painting a picture and it comes out in a funny way I start laughing and forget about it. 2- For me, I am an orphan and at times I think about my parents but when I am drawing
at least it takes my time and I forget about that. 4-When I am sad I can draw a picture of a person, maybe with a big stomach and looks funny and I start laughing What have you learned from being part of this program? I know you learned about colours, and…. 1-I have learned the difference between a good picture and a bad picture. What is the difference? 1-when I draw a picture and I don’t paint it, it doesn’t look as good as one that is painted. 6-I had never been able to communicate with people one on one but now through the painting I can communicate with people. How does it help with communication? The way you communicate through pictures, when I draw a picture and someone sees it, they can see something, I can bring something behind the picture. 5- I have learned how to draw and paint. Why is that important to learn to draw and paint? 3-It increases our knowledge. 1- We can use it for communication, now I cant speak good English, but if I draw a football pitch with people playing football, you will know that I like football. 2- it is important to express your feelings because whatever you are feeling when you draw it, someone can see that this is what another feels. How about in the future, what you are learning now, can you think of how you may be able to use it in the future? 7-If I learn how to paint very well I can paint for exhibition and for sale- ones like that, like the ones that are here on the walls. 6- Through my painting I may get well known to the extent that they may invite me outside of Uganda to do my painting. 5- If I learn how to paint I can paint very well and sell my paintings. 4- (same repeated) 3- If I don’t finish my education but I know how to paint I can be painting and it becomes
my job. 2-If I learn how to paint very well, in 5 years time maybe I could also be employed to go and teach others how to paint, the younger kids in other grades. 1- It can create a job for me, that can be my job. 8-If I have learnt how to draw and paint I can also teach my younger brothers and sisters. Is there anything that you want to change about the program? 8-They should prolong the program so we can all learn how to draw and paint. 7-The colours are not so many; we need various colours for our paintings. 6- If there is a means of transport you could also take us to other places to learn to draw other things other than what we are drawing now. 5-We need one person to have three or four brushes, there are very few brushes, at times you want various brushes to do. 4- I am satisfied with the program how it is. 3- Everything is ok with me. 2-If the papers we use for drawing could be much bigger, we could express so many different things in one painting. If we could get better paint than what we are using now and maybe have different tins to divide them, not to put them on the same surface, because they get mixed up. 1-it is better if they teach us more, better painting. Great, anything else you want to tell me about the program? What it has meant to you? 3- I am so grateful about what you are doing but I want this program to be a permanent program, not coming for three days and you go away then you com after a month, we want an on-going program. 2- If it is possible for they could to give us the paint and brushes to go home with we could do painting, at times we really need to do something and we have nothing so if they could provide us the paint and the brushes, and we go with them and they monitor how we do our work even in our homes. 7-This program is very good but what I am praying for is this program inputs other
things that can help us other than painting? Like what? If you could also give us balls and give us things for dancing since our culture is full of dancing. Why is important to have the arts in your life? 1- So that we can maintain our culture because through dancing we can maintain our culture, such that when we are big and we have children the children can see through our dancing and our singing and our art that we have a certain culture. Aside from just school, work, why is it important to have art? 3-art keeps us together, when we are doing things as a group. But when we are at home, we are alone, we have a lot of thoughts, sometimes you are suffering, but art brings joy to us. 7- Art can take you to another level, even you can go to another country because of the gift of art. 2- Art in itself helps me a lot, it is a profession, it does a lot in our lives, it also passes the time. 8-At times we don’t have money for school fees, but if we know how to draw or dance, some white person can come and see us and pay our school fees. Ok. Thank you!