Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee, came into the public eye when he was profiled in Dave Eggers’ highly acclaimed book, What is the What?  In 2006. FilmAid International – which screens films in African refugee camps to promote mental health and cultural understanding – commissioned a piece to be presented to Valentino at a benefit in New York City in April, 2008. 

 

Valentino was one of 40,000 boys who walked across the desert to Ethiopia, and on to Kenya, where they grew up in refugee camps before coming to America. Eggers’ book recounts the harrowing journey. After fleeing his hometown at the age of six – leaving behind his parents, aunts, uncles and siblings as horseback raiders set the compound on fire – Valentino embarked on a grueling trek across Africa. Many boys died from malnutrition, dehydration, lion attacks, or simply from exhaustion. In the midst of such hardship, Valentino formed lasting relationships with the other boys, friendships that have evolved into a global network. Today, the boys remain in constant contact.

 

For this project, I did not work directly with Valentino, who was in his hometown in southern Sudan, realizing his dream of building a school with the proceeds from the book. However, I was armed with the story presented in the book about his life.

 

Through the lens of Valentino’s narrative, I chose to represent the boys, their experiences, their loss of home and the continuing strength of their connection to each other, by the use of silhouetted profiles of heads – forty of them, with a single head representing a thousand of the 40,000 boys. I chose the colors of the silhouettes from the new flag of Southern Sudan, the boys’ homeland.

 

The silhouette heads point east, the direction of the boys’ journey, with the linear layout of the piece conveying a sense of movement. They are connected almost as puzzle pieces, yet are overlapping and entwined. Together, the silhouettes make each other whole, yet individuals emerge in the positive and negative spaces.

 

Each silhouetted face is unique, with Valentino’s likeness included among them and their individuality is reinforced by the hand stitching around each face. The fraying of the canvas that will take place over time represents the end of innocence that comes with being independent at such a young age.

 

The title of the piece, “All the while I will know that you are there”, is taken from a sentence at the end of the book. In his use of the word “you,” Valentino seems to be referring to many people: the boys, his family, the audience, and everyone who will listen to his story. We are all here with him.

 

Reaction

FilmAid International recently had our annual gala and we honored Valentino Achak Deng, the Sudanese refugee who is the subject of Dave Eggers' novel, "What is the What." Lisa Waltuch created a work of art as a special tribute to Valentino, which she presented to him that evening.

 

Lisa is a wonderful person and an incredible artist. To me, her art reflects her outstanding ability to communicate and relate to others. Her insightfulness and empathy allow her to create works of art that truly represent a person's experiences. Her work becomes an extension of people – a tangible representation of someone's personality and life journeys.

 

In working with Lisa on this project, I got to experience first-hand how she incorporates unique aspects of a subject's personality, life experiences and accomplishments in a completely collaborative process. In this case, she read background information about Valentino, interviewed people close to him, and shared ideas with all of us to make sure that her piece would be meaningful to Valentino and understandable to others. The result was an amazing large fabric with depictions of Sudanese lost boys as they escaped to safety.

 

Watching the joy and astonishment in Valentino's face when Lisa presented the work was something I will never forget, as he put his hand on his heart and said "thank you" over and over again. Lisa's artwork was unlike anything we have ever presented to any of our honorees, and was nothing short of a masterpiece.

 

"All the While I Will Know That You are There"—Steve Mendelsohn