Wendland Chole Kiziili (ITP 2013, Kenya): Road to Reconciliation update

Wendland Chole Kiziili (ITP 2013, Kenya), Senior Curator at Kitale Museum, Kenya

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT

The Road to Reconciliation is a project intended to ensure promotion of national cohesion and national values. Uganda Museum, like many other Museums across the world, aims to serve as a safe space where dialogue and debate among all members of our society can take place. As a cultural institution with a social responsibility Uganda Museum, as well as ITP alumni involved in the project, recognise that they must employ new methods of communication with members of the public. We must also become a new intermediary that will not be afraid to face new challenges, for the creation of peace and justice. The Road to Reconciliation hopes to create a safe forum that will bring diverse points of view together through dialogue for peace. The ultimate outcome, a community exhibition, will encourage and allow for a free flow of information and opinions; the exhibition will result in tangible actions for peace which can be nurtured and strengthened by the refugee communities in northern Uganda.

MONDAY 5^TH FEBRUARY, 2018

The ITP Alumni team arrived in Uganda to begin discussions on the Road to Reconciliation. We had a taste of Ugandan culture through a tour of Uganda Museum’s galleries. Later in the day we planned for the next day’s activities of meetings and workshops.

TUESDAY 6^th FEBRUARY, 2018

The project’s objectives, outcomes and expectations were introduced by Mr. Abiti Nelson, followed by Dr. John Giblin from the British Museum who categorically talked about the importance of collaboration and working together as a tool in life. He talked about the British Museum’s aim of collaboration – to foster knowledge exchange, mutual skills sharing and network building.

I presented my work and experiences with community exhibitions. I had an opportunity to take workshop delegates through the exhibition processes, audience engagement and education based activities. I presented to the participants a project which I successfully implemented in Kapenguria museum in West Pokot County, West Pokot Cultural Festival – Celebrating Unity in Diversity with support from the Pokot community, business community, and friends of the museum.

I had a chance to lead the participants through a session on exhibition responsibilities, programmes and themes. We also discussed exhibition content by working in three groups under exhibition themes: ‘food and material display’, ‘cultural performances’ and ‘resolution / dialogue’,

Finally, I found Dr John Giblin’s talk on the Luzira Head absolutely fascinating –  a very unique object thought to be approximately 1000 years old and discovered in 1929 during the building of Luzira prison in Uganda.

Thank you!