Sculptural Expressions on HIV/AIDS

Dr. Lilian Nabulime has been creating art every since she was a young girl, studying sculpture, drawing and painting from primary school all the way to a PhD at the University of Newcastle in the UK. Her exhibition Sculptural Expressions: Women and HIV/AIDS is on display at the Makerere Fine Arts Gallery from May 19 until July 31. I interviewed her about the driving force behind her artwork and what alights her passions.

What inspires your art?
It is the interest. I love sculpture. I love modeling. I love using my hands, to touch, to feel. I think I enjoy coming up with new ideas, transforming them. I really like that. I enjoy doing things. Even when there are challenges, then that helps me find out ways to overcome them.

What drives your theme for this exhibit?
I think at one time I was going through an experience. I was sad. When I went to Newcastle University, the first thing I said was, ‘let me read about men and HIV/AIDS.’ And when I read about men and HIV/AIDS, I realized I had been affected. My husband had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1998, and then it was tough caring for him. He was in denial. It was tough. And then I remember seeking help and I wasn’t getting the right help. I realized it was our own problem, me and him. No one would come out and help us...

So I thought let me do my research on women and HIV/AIDS and infections, to develop sculpture that could warm women on HIV/AIDS infections and encourage them to talk to avoid becoming victims. Or even if they are not infected, at least to warn their children. There is need for mothers to know how to bring up this subject to their children. It’s not easy to talk about such issues with children. So I thought it would be good to develop sculptures that would encourage women to talk.

What challenges do you face as an artist in Uganda?
This is the first time I’m exposing my work. When I was developing my research, because it was people living with HIV/AIDS and the vulnerable and poor people, they were very receptive. But the ones who are educated, I think they feel shy. They are not very receptive like the other group of people. Either they are shy or they just don’t feel like talking. Most of my subjects are very direct, regarding infection. And as a taboo, people don’t find it very comfortable to talk, to discuss. But at the same time the work is interesting, so by the time you’re drawn into it, you enjoy the work, and afterwards you realize you’re on subjects which are not easy to talk about.

What’s the future of HIV/AIDS in Uganda?
I think you keep on wondering why these infections are going on, are increasing. For me, it is having direct messages and being open and frank. Why don’t you come with the direct messages which show the reality of HIV/AIDS? So that people are threatened and reminded that this is a killer disease. People need strong messages which hit them right up and they see this is a destructive disease.

What life lessons have you learned as an artist?
Through art you can express your feelings, and through art you can touch other people’s lives. People don’t necessarily have to be educated. Once the work object is there and if it is attractive, it draws in people and they start asking questions. As they are asking, the information is being passed on and they are also giving you ideas. So it is not a one-way track.

You are able to learn about other people’s lives and experiences. And for me, I was able to learn about lives and experiences of vulnerable people, and especially those who have been infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Through my art I was able to draw feelings and experiences of these people’s experiences, and that also made my work become stronger.

Even when I was in the UK, much as I had the influence of Western artists, but inside me, still I knew I was doing the work for the African. I was carrying my cultural knowledge and beliefs within the work I was doing. So much as I was getting those ideas, I still had to add on my African cultures because I knew the work was for Africans.

What’s in your future?
I still have an obligation. Because when I was doing that research, I realized the women were poor. Without fighting poverty, HIV cannot end. If women are poor, they will still be exposed to the vulnerable factors…

All I know is I have to give something to the women I did research with. Because they talk about their children--they worry too much about their children, their school fees. So honestly, I feel that it’s not right if I’m selling and I don’t remember their problems. And at the same time they also made contributions to my research. So I can give back when I sell some of my work.

[I'm having trouble uploading photos, but there are some of Dr. Nabulime in the slideshow to the left.]