Artistic Creation and the Communication of HIV/AIDS Information to Post-Primary School Students Through the Participatory Theatre for Development Process

Abstract

Artistic creations are imitations of nature and the established activities of man. Through the years and right from the Grecian period of recorded history, man has always used artistic creations to inform, educate and entertain himself and fellow beings. Even the children and the adolescents, who fundamentally learn through the emulation of adult members of the society, have artistic creations of songs, dance, role playing and storytelling impacting greatly on their psyches and conditioning their thoughts for the future and life-long engagements. It is upon this premise that this proposal emanates: a process of employing the artistic endowments of young persons to create with them, and for them, enduring legacies that could make them better citizens than their parents have been. And the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a social problem that has a negative impact on young persons, societal productivity and continuity, is a public discourse that could be better presented to young persons through artistic creations and performances, guidedly-contrived by them and performed by them, right in their school environments, with the aim of provoking discussions by them, and aiding them in making resolutions based on the facts of the performance, thereby using an artistic creation to engender a sustainable worldview among the youthful population.