I had a dream: Kampala, Uganda

This is the vision behind AtWork “I Had A Dream”. Conceived by the Moleskine Foundation and the writer Simon Njami, the travelling workshop engages communities in 4 different places; Rome, Italy; N’Djamena, Chad; Kampala, Uganda; with the final leg to take place in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2018. Lively debate and open expression facilitate the safe environment necessary for critical thinking and creative doing. The 4/5 day workshops culminate in an exhibition of the artistic notebooks produced as metaphors of the process. As Simon Njami says, “We were born what we were born, but we always become what we did. In few words, I Had A Dream is a call to action, here and now.”

The workshop was held during the Kampala Biennale of Contemporary Art, which attracts the international art and creative community. This enriched the participants’ experience and integrated it into a wider cultural context of the city.In the luscious Maisha Garden, an important green and cultural space in Kampala, 24 aspiring street artists, dancers, photographers, visual artists, educators and designers from 5 African countries gathered under the guidance of the curators Simon Njami and Elise Atangana to debate, critique and exchange their dreams. The workshop then moved onto the Makerere Art Gallery, followed by an exhibition of the results. While some notebooks show the conclusion of a long journey of self-discovery, others capture the ongoing process of exploration, critique and realisation that leads us to pursue our dreams. Let’s explore them.

My life is a library. Full of books, full of stories of my life. Some looking quite ragged because they have been reread many times, others only once. People come and go, taking their time, browsing a bit. Maybe even helping to write the next chapter without knowing it. My life is a library, a treasure made of words, of human interactions.

My dream talks about my bewitchment of my soul and my spirit to my liberation.

The mystery behind this notebook talks about how to free oneself from all negativity and bad energy; to focus on the good and positive things that can help one move for- ward. The first half of the notebook represents the Dark world that i call “MY PRISON”. I show what is really happening in my mind when i am in a “black and grey” mood. The sec- ond half of the notebook has colorful papers, positive words to heal the heart, mind and soul. I designed the second half of the book this way to show that i have finally got the strength to move on even if it may hurt me. I am a PHOENIX, I rise up from the ashes, fight back, and BREAK FREE.

Since my childhood I have always dreamt of becoming rich. At first I thought when one puts it in their mind it merely gets closer for instance I had a belief that if I read books written by ‘supposedly’ rich people it makes the way to riches more clear. Contrary to this, a dreamer has to think, work and have a target that must exceed the current capacity to achieve it. In this case one has to identify a need or what is missing to fill a gap. My work is an invention of ticket(s) aimed at making a direct route to heaven at a cost. I assure those interested (Various religions) that they will fly directly to heavenly places emphasized by a flying figure that I engraved on the face of the ticket A stamp with address of kampala for endorsing together with a black masking tape “seal-off” the tickets. At the end of the day, when more and more of my tickets are consumed I will achieve my dream.

During my studies at the university, my parents were not happy about the course I chose and made it hard for me to hang my works. Some would even be hidden from sight; implying that the work I create is symbolic of evil. My notebook is about me learning to be open to my self and breakthrough that prison that I’ve been kept in. Barbed wire material symbolizes courage and strength to express myself, the thread symbolize my sensitiveness to the nature of criticism I face back at home, as well as my willingness to carry on creating.

I am unique because of my left hand ,which in my culture was called a cat’s hand(Buganda). As a little girl questions like why do you have to use it instead of the right were commonplace. The depth created within the outline of my left hand painted in red shows the print, expressing what makes me unique , reaching out to the world through my work . The palm print which is surrounded with the colours of nature( blue, green and brown) A map of my dreams...my Globe. This book, this structure is my own map. What do you see?

My book is titled CBHIJA Gospel.My concept was to create a one religion which

can bring all religions together because my dream is to buy my way to heaven.

Books in Flight expresses my passion for flight and the desire to write ideas in a notebook. Its starts with the search to be liberated in life using a book as a tool keep opinions, and sketches about flying vessels. Using a notebook is the first step of innovation using it to keep drawings. I believe Moleskine is the book of the future because it influences all sectors, beliefs and thus in books we trust. A book is a key to gather strategies, follow objectives and keep history. If to achieve flight a force is required, then a notebook is the first force to power man flight.

Performance Manifesto is the dream of a dancer to own a performance space. Looked at the other way round, the wish to own a performance space is a meta- phor for a strong desire of the dancer to possess his own body space, his own person, to find himself. To owna performance space is a life long ambition that the dancer hopes to fulfil in bits. This is symbolised by the locked padlocks which he hopes to unlock at different stages of his journey.

Amidst all confusion, stuckness, being locked up, frustrated, lgnorant, stupid,not open ,this that was going on in my life, I found my self, I am free now, I was trans- formed. Why not start another chapter of my life here and now!!!!!

I want to be a cultural icon who will be revered. So I set out to make a holy book. The book mocks and pokes at Christianity which has brain- washed and mentally enslaved Africans. It also connects black people to ancient Egypt. With this I hope to help my brothers and sisters seek a lot of knowledge through reading but also question what they consume because most of it is written with a certain motive. I also want them to connect with their cultural heritage.

The ‘Unseen’ is a representation of Aloka Mark Trevor (20) a.k.a KIDO, who is ven- turing into the world of art to find himself and Dr.Nabuliime Lillian (55), an educa- tor and sculptor at Makerere University, who is living her golden years as an artist. The Unseen brings to light the things that the Artist says without saying through- out their life’s journey with Art. That is who they are, where they belong, their little pleasures in life, their time, identity and self.

In the notebook, artists speak in first person.

As I go through my journey of finding myself and my true identity within lan- guage and environment, I end up at a starting point where I find me, myself and I. Lost in Finding is a piece of work expresssing the back and forth in search of self realization. The piece is in the form of an infinite symbol with a point of entrance and exit portraying a common ground of being sure yet uncertain. The self illustrations facing opposie sides is a symbol of mirror reflections.

The burnt coffin I created from the notebook is symbolic of the death of my past and my rebirth. It’s inspired by the Hindu concept of Samsara (rebirth). The coffin is a metaphor for the death I felt in the long pursuit of self. In the coffin is my old diary that is burnt up and also ashes to illustrate the destruction and detachment from my old past. On the front of the coffin is a date I was born which is a hundred years before my actual year of birth and the year I died which the actual date I was born because I feel like I died the day I was born into a world divided by a lot of isms. On the back of the coffin is the year I was reborn, the year I found meaning in life.

Quarter Life is a chronicle of my aspirations till now. First I wanted to be an art- ist, then a lawyer, teacher and a myriad of other things. My dreams now called mirages have always had a need to save the world. I believed if people needed me, then they loved me. Looking back, it has all been a search to be accepted and for the first time I want to be selfish with my goals and dreams. Quarter Life is an examination of my dreams thus far and how they have led me to this point. I need to find that one thing which I truly care about which has absolutely nothing to do with anybody but myself.

The nails, razorblades represent the pain caused to the victims of rape. The holes and the cuts created by the nails and blades represent the wounds that are created. These are normally too deep and they take a long time to heal. Rape is normally violent and bloody and thats why there is tearing of undergarments and blood everywhere.

I am breaking the silence by telling victims to stand up and fight for their rights.

In my life I met a friend who has changed my life; “spraycan.” For my notebook I made the shape of the spray can symbolising the friend who came into my life , and the pages symbolise my life time. The mirror shows me and my life

The concept in this work, involves pins, spiders and spider webs, a puzzle of my face, and some strings. The pins represent the pieces or things that are keeping me together and at the same time you realize that the sharp end pierces through the puzzle showing they are also reasons for my confusion and wanting to rush my growth to the end results. The spiders or spider web as we all know anything that fly’s into the web gets caught up within it. The pieces of the puzzle which when arranged represent me are a sign of the state of my mind so many things I would like to achieve caught up in my head like a web. I must free myself with my dreams but where do I start? Too many people are expecting too many things from me.

My notebook is the beginning of a manuscript of the anthology of folk tales I hope to write, illustrate and have published one day. In it, I retell the tale of Kintu and Nambi and fill in the gaps in the story.

Welcome to this strange society of seekers. We are all on a quest for something but not critical enough to see it yet it lies within. I have provided you with knowledge embedded on the mysterious chest. The answer to all your questions. I remain the greatest HRA. Seek and Find.