Lara Rosenoff Gauvin is an artist, curator, Trudeau Scholar, and PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the University of
 British Columbia. Her current research examines transformations of intergenerational knowledge transmission in contexts of long-term conflict to better understand localized processes of social repair. Lara has collaborated on numerous projects in and about Northern Uganda as artist, activist and lecturer since 2004. PHOTO: Lara Rosenoff Gauvin and Nyero Augustine, her longtime collaborator and assistant.

Project Description:

“Greetings from Pabwoc, post-war Northern Uganda” -A series of glowing, life sized formal portraits of members of Pabwoc village comprise the core of this exhibit. Generally, the project aims to interrogate our notions of war on the African continent by confronting audiences with proud images of an extended family (village) of survivors of the over two-decade war in Northern Uganda. Specifically, the term survivor, rather than victim, will be emphasized as we communicate the everyday ‘performances’ of social repair and resistance employed by the sons and daughters of Pabwoc (ie extended family members that comprise the village) in contemporary post- war contexts. In addition to the portraits, these actions will be explored visually and aurally with: 1) contemporary aural recordings of cultural activities such as songs and dances, and 2) the display of a booklet produced for village youth detailing their village/kin history. Re-presenting themselves in these portraits, recordings and booklet, members of Pabwoc communicate how they are recovering from the devastating violences and forced displacement according to their own understandings of ‘roco wat’- restoring relations.