The Blue Nile State Celebrates The Arts For Development Campaign
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Bakori, Geisan Locality, Blue Nile State, 23h March 2008: Goethe Institute in Khartoum in partnership with the German Development Service (DED), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) celebrate the end of the second phase of the Arts for Development campaign in Bakori, in Blue Nile State. The event included an exhibition displaying posters and drawings made by children from the Blue Nile State and Sudanese artists from Khartoum, as well as a celebration attended by hundreds of community members, representatives from the government, UN agencies, local and international NGOs.
As
part of the three-week liberal arts for development campaign focusing
on development projects implemented by the European Commission funded
and UNDP managed Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme (RRP) in Upper
Nile, Blue Nile and River Nile States. Three groups, each one comprising
five Sudanese artists and a graphic design trainer from Germany visited
one of the three RRP locations for one week.
During this field visit to Bakori, the Sudanese artists worked together
with the local communities and NGOs to develop illustrations, posters
and artwork highlighting development issues that are relevant to rural
communities.
Addressing
the ceremony, Mr. Abdelmoneim Abbas Amir, Deputy Humanitarian Aid Commissioner
for the Blue Nile State, emphasized the role of communities in the development
of the State, and the need for people to be less reliant on international
aid in order to take full ownership of their lives. “With a region
as rich as the Blue Nile State, communities need to step up their efforts
in progressing and remind themselves that the world is now becoming a
small village and the power will soon be at the grass roots level”,
Said Mr. Amir. Mr. Amir also hailed peace dividends, and pointed out that
“three years ago, these children would’ve been drawing guns
and weapons, while today they are drawing about their more peaceful environments.”
The group of Khartoum-based artists visited several recovery projects
in the region, and interacted with local children, which enabled them
to have a clearer picture of the realities that are unique to the local
communities. These encounters with communities inspired the artists a
number of posters illustrating the most pressing development issues. Speaking
on behalf of the artists, Ms. Otheylat Hassan Fadul stressed the importance
of liberal arts for development. “Right now, as Sudanese artists,
our role is to reflect how our lives are and what our culture is about
and support the country in making these realities visible to all,”
she said.
Mr.
Badri Mohammed Abdalla
, representative of the Ministry of Education stressed the importance
of arts in children’s education, and how more efforts need to be
made in order to ensure that it becomes a strong and essential part of
the schools curriculum in the Blue Nile State as well as at the national
level.
The consolidated artwork created during this campaign these visits will
be displayed at an art exhibition hosted by the Goethe Institute Khartoum
starting on 5 April. By the end of April, the exhibition will be transferred
to Juba and displayed at the UNDP compound.
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For more information, please contact:
Angela Gruenert, Project Coordinator, Goethe Institute in Khartoum: +
249 (0) - 9115500891 ; angelagruenert@web.de
Erich Beining, Country Director, German Development Service: + 249 (0)
- 912306484 ; erich.beining@ded.de
Goder Yohannes, Acting Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme Manager,
UNDP Sudan: goder.yohannes@undp.org
UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.