Art as a Social Process and Form of Democratic Practices in Uganda

Historically, African communities were considered learning arenas for all. Folk-wisdom traditions and approaches to sustainable livelihood were transferred from generation to generation. These approaches to life created awareness of meaning of knowledge and skills to both society and individuals. Within the same communities there existed different art forms that contributed to contextualised meaning-making processes. In this case, culture plays a pivotal role in nurturing individual and community identities, ownership, and practices. Further, Art brings together people with unique cultural practices and helps them appreciate each other’s diversity, and understand the existing historical and cultural heritage therein. In the case of Uganda, there are various cultural communities with unique practices and values that help them understand their environments and who they are. Through Art there continues to be support for emotional and social independence during meaning-making processes in Uganda. During such engagements, there is strengthening of community participation and thus creating a sense of belonging, cultural documentation, advocacy for change and empowerment among individuals. In this chapter, through a globalised lens, I expound on the fundamental contributions of African Art as a form of social process through creative democracy, and cultural and participatory democracy towards meaning-making. I share both text and visual meanings voluntarily obtained through a narrative inquiry approach from participants in Uganda that have made contributions to material culture, social sustainability, and economic empowerment through Art, considering the space and time of occurrences. Linking cultural art forms in their works, artists’ advocacy of eliminating intellectual invisible colonialism and appreciation for the relevance of culture towards the development of contextualised knowledge and intellectual independence.