Breaching Misunderstanding With Art

Adong Judith gives a speech surrounding the concept of using art to bridge misunderstanding gaps that may lie between any form of communication. Judith is a Ugandan filmmaker and a playwright, often using her artistic talents in creating provocative pieces that generate dialogue around taboo issues that do not have enough light shined upon them, such as LGBTQ rights and war crimes. She tells stories about social change and believes that stories have the power to touch and move people -- it humanizes ideas and teaches people to empathize.

In her talk about the usage of art in bridging any forms of misunderstanding, Judith makes it loud that she is there to amplify the voices of disadvantaged groups. This stems from the fact that the former Ugandan president Idi Amin has persecuted artists and in end, Ugandan artists tend to keep away from social and political theater. Judith aims to breach the silence and provoke conversation on the matters of taboo concepts, drive dialogue to challenge ideas and encourage information. Her problem with activism is that far too often, it comes from a biased nature and it can block out alternative perspectives which numbs empathetic elements. She believes that the saying "stay in your truth" can be misleading because of the entire contradicting notion that stems from it -- disagreements prove this theory to be wrong.

She creates provocative artwork to tell a story, touch people, humanize concepts, and most importantly, bridge the misunderstanding between disagreeing parties by encouraging a medium of conversation. It isn't to say that conversation is a solution, but it allows for there to be a chance to get to the same page.