Passion and commitment for arts drive Ssebaggala

Andrew Lwanga Ssebaggala exudes energy, passion and commitment to arts projects, which make him stand out because many skilled people in the entertainment business prefer to do projects for commercial dividends.
It would be right to say if the arts were a cup of tea, Ssebaggala would be drunk anytime of the day. His life rotates around the arts and they are not just part of his career.
His purpose is to help artistes while still at the production stage, he partly hinges this on the fact that a number of arts managers lack professional training yet they are running arts business.
He does this under his company called House Of Talent East Africa, through which he has accomplished a number of projects. These include Alfajiri Production, Umoja Cultural Flying Carpet and Nuvo Arts Festival.
The arts enthusiast coordinates and manages the annual Umoja Cultural Flying Carpet in Uganda it is held under the auspices of Makerere University’s Performing Arts and Film Department with sponsorship from the Norwegian Embassy.

Great strides
In his career, he has offered professional expertise to organisations such as The Eastern Africa Theatre Institute (EATI) as its national coordinator. The programme aims at building the capacity of artists in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania, through training, exchanges and festivals.
Under EATI, the 34-year-old artiste has executed training workshops around the country as well as other countries. In the basics of creative arts, group management and promotions.
He explains that under the EATI programme, two other projects have been developed, the dramatool, a website-based programme which encourages East African artistes to appreciate ICT and market themselves online but also keep in contact with fellow artists all over the world.
The other project is Pacsea, a performing arts collaboration between Sweden and East Africa. It encourages exchanges between the different countries with a view of building capacity, learning from each other.
Pacsea is supported by the Swedish government through Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency).

Perks
On some of the arts project, the multi-talented artiste has worked with other gifted contemporaries.
“In 2006 after working with Judith Adong during the EATI programme, we realised we had a lot in common in as far as professionalism in arts is concerned.
“She shared with me her passion and mission to produce a professional play and how best we would collaborate on this project,” Ssebaggala explains how he began working with the celebrated Ugandan playwright and filmmaker.
At the time, Adongo had written a play titled Unheard Voices, which was later renamed Silent Voices, after a number of reviews.
The play required a significant amount of funding to produce. Doen Foundation believed in the idea because that needed to catch the attention of the government and other stakeholders,” he adds.
Silent Voices was directed by US-based theatre director, Reid Dennis Hilton. The production mirrors the views and emotions of victims of the Northern Uganda war.
The Project explores how victims have been ignored in the constant calls for forgiveness and reconciliation at the expense of justice.
Through the protagonist, a mother who is symbolically representative of life and death, the play examines the bad effects unhealthy policies have on citizens.
Adong’s inspiration in writing Silent Voices was after her research thesis for her undergraduate degree at Makerere University.
She learnt that people and victims she interviewed felt betrayed and were bitter and wanted revenge. They expressed a feeling of being neglected while the perpetrators were instead being rewarded unlike the victims are being forced to forgive.
Adong knew that a research report would gather dust on the shelf; and that would be an injustice to the stories that must be heard by the world.
She was filled with the urge to tell the stories the best way she knew how, through a play.
Silent Voices Season 2 has two production plans, one in the Acholi where the story originates and another one in English so as to have a wider catchement area.
“The Silent Voices Acholi version shall tour the northern Uganda, particularly in districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Lira. Then, it will be brought to Kampala where we shall have back-to-back performances of both English and Acholi versions at the National Theatre for the general public, civil society, private sector and policy makers,” Ssebaggala explains.

What the future holds
Auditions for the northern Ugandan cast are already underway, and rehearsals will follow. The artiste says they are building on the achievements of the first Silent Voices, especially when it comes to the English version . Here, the cast in the first season will be engaged in season two.
Hilton will be directing the second season, assisted by Kaya Kagimu Mukasa, a theatre director and playwright. Ssebaggala says they are using Hilton’s expertise for the sake of learning from him and building local capacity in theatrical direction.
The premiere of the second season took place in August. The production manager also discloses that as part of creating a wider impact, Silent Voices will be published and thereafter launched, so that Ministry of Education can then adapt it on the Literature in English syllabus.

Timeliness
The play is timely as it comes at a time when Uganda is preparing for its general elections. This play serves to advocate for the silent voices and engaging the policy makers and leaders to advocate for peace, justice and reconciliation.
Silent Voices was produced under Alfajiri Production. Ssebaggala’s role was to co-direct and manage the production for the project.
As it turned out, it was one of the most successful theatrical productions in recent times. One of the reasons for the success was that the professional process of theatre-making was respected.
Due to public demand, Silent Voices will be staged again this year and will be launched in different places around the country.
Ssebaggala is keen on achieving the best for Silent Voices because commitment to a good production is an ultimate goal.

Lessons learnt
However, he points out that commitment is rare among Ugandan artistes. It is important to have artists sign binding contracts.
“For example for Silent Voices- season one, we contracted all artists, committed them to the project for the whole day, from 8am to 5pm, just like other jobs do. In this, we were able to conduct our rehearsals in time and in a professional manner,” he reveals.
At the end of the day a good job brings emotional satisfaction. However, the arts in Uganda are faced with their fair share of challenges, including but not limited to the lack of professional theatrical space.
Ssebaggala believes that challenges, when faced positively, create opportunities that may not have been seen or even thought of.
“For the lack of space, we ensure that we book the available space in time, so that it is not booked by another party. We are also flexible and creative enough to create the artistic ambience in the performance spaces that are not professionally artistic.
“This goes without saying that it is costly but we do our best to mobilise our funds early enough and use them well,” the art critic explains.

Crediting others
Collaboration explains some of the success Ssebaggala has registered. He has worked with veteran artiste Diplock Ssegawa on a number of his songs, on dance choreography and back-up vocalists.

How it all began
It is interesting how Ssebaggala began his journey into the world of art. On completion of Senior Six, he was offered a placement at Makerere University to pursue a diploma in Music, Dance and Drama (MDD). He was not into the course. When his father insisted, he grudgingly obliged.
People corrupted the acronym MDD as Musilu ddala ddala (too stupid). When he graduated, he was not content, so he decided to pursue a business course to enable him make business out of the arts.
Along the way, he worked at Sanyu FM and Radio Maria as a freelance reporter. While still at Makerere University, he performed with Abu Kawenja’s Adzido Performers. He has previously managed Kingdom FM.
Today, much of Ssebaggala’s life rotates around arts but not limited to career. He enjoys sleeping, watching movies and going out for musical shows.
Whereas he enjoys seeing people dance, he is shy and not patient enough to last through a dance session. He can only dance when he is at his house.
Otherwise, he cherishes debate and conversations that add value to the growth of performing arts.

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