The Gulu Project / CHRISTINE

A tale on the aftermath of civil war in Northern Uganda and some of its protagonists. Supported by a grant of VG Bildkunst. 2012-2014.

Christine (28) was 10 years old and on the way to church with her elderly aunts when she was kidnapped by the LRA in 1994. Only in 2005 did she finally return home from the bush. At the age of 13, she was given as a wife to a 50-year old man. Her life consisted of constant fighting, walking, cooking, carrying heavy things and attending to the needs of her husband and later three sons. Often she was so thirsty she had to drink her own urine, but sometimes even that was taken from her and she stayed thirsty.

At one point she was ordered to kill another girl that had tried to escape. She refused, citing her Christian beliefs. She had to make her case to Joseph Kony himself, who ultimately accepted her refusal, and she avoided being made a murderer. Today she makes between 150,000 and 200,000 Uganda Shillings per month working as a weaver in a Christian cooperative. There she does not speak about her past, she just wants to forget.

The project was exhibited in a solo show at Makerere Art Gallery in Kampala, Uganda in April 2014. Curation: Marc Prüst, Katrin Peters-Klaphake, Anna Kucma