artivists 4 life Uganda

“The artivist 4 life project emphasizes the use of art, drama and dance to inform, sensitize and empower our communities on issues that effect them. Through these various art forms we explore the different avenues of captivating and then communicating with our communities. As artivists 4 life we seek to create for a better world” (www.youtube.com/artivists4life)

artivists 4 life were brought together by a shared desire for a collaborative and sustainable creative space of resistance. artivist 4 life youth members fuse art and activism through consciousness-raising activities and artistic interventions. We draw from drama, visual art, dance and any medium necessary to identify and critically re-imagine our circumstances, creating, assessing and promoting messages with and for our communities. Our shared goal for the project is to co-develop a sustainable artivist practice with actions and tools for guiding a youth-led approach to community messaging while providing sustainable part time employment and educational training opportunities to our youth members. Our project has transitioned away from hierarchical forms of social activism and is emerging as a model for sustainable youth-led social transformation. Concerns being addressed by artivists include HIV/AIDS prevention and stigma, the sexual network and transactional sex, substance abuse and youth unemployment. Emergent multi-modal messages include ‘Love condoms. Love life’, ‘HIV positive? Live positively’ and ‘One partner. One love: avoid the sexual network’.