tiny bit about acholi art

For class today, we were supposed to look up some information about the art forms of the culture we will be living among in the field. First of all, I need to point out that there is not a whole lot of information on the Acholi people and their customs, which is very frustrating. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but from my experience, it is difficult to find very much information on the Acholi culture. Also, from watching the documentary called War Dance, which takes place in a community within the Acholi people, I have learned a little bit about how important art is in their culture. So combining what I learned from this documentary with what I learned from a website I was reading about the Acholi, I have found some interesting related things.

The largest art forms in the Acholi culture are drumming, singing and dancing. These forms of art are used in many different ceremonies relating to the different spirits they believe in. The website talked mentioned ceremonies having to do with birth, planting, harvesting, and also sacrifice. Dancing is used in these ceremonies accompanied by drumming and sometimes also singing. Also, when someone dies, about a week or so later, a big and final dance and feast is held. The vastness of the dance and feast depend on the status and age of the person that died. So the older and more important the person who died, the more festive and elaborate of a ceremony. I also saw the importance of art in the movie where the Acholi people worked so hard and did everything they could to prepare for a music and dance festival that was being held in the capital of Uganda. The acholi are a marginalized group of people often looked down upon by the rest of Uganda as the people who were torn apart by the war. The acholi wanted to show the rest of Uganda and the war and themselves through their art, that the war could not and did not take away their culture and who they are.

I think art is such an amazing way for us to try and connect and understand each other as human beings. I hope to learn so much more about the different art forms in Gulu among the Acholi people in order to understand them a little better and learn about them. Art is such a beautiful way for people to express themselves, their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and feelings and then share them with others.