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Notes
1 The 32° East art initiative is often referred to as “32” in Uganda.
2 The main sources on contemporary Ugandan art are the unpublished Ph.D. dissertations of the Art History Department at Makerere University. The need to produce a visual and critical memory of exhibitions and other artistic activities has been addressed only recently, when some galleries (AfriArt Gallery, Makerere Gallery, AKA Gallery) began producing elaborate exhibition brochures and commissioning critics to write about those initiatives.
3 Besides the initiatives I commented on in this article, we should consider as important the creation of an art biennial, the functioning of Start Journal, an online magazine devoting to critical evaluation of contemporary Ugandan art, or curatorial projects such as Simon Njami's AtWork (2015). More information about the latter can be found at http://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-kampala-episode/.
4 The insistence of public art and the public's interest for monuments, festivals, and the occupation of the public space in Kampala is eloquent on that regard.
5 On that trajectory, see Kakande (Citation2008). One of Kakande's most productive conclusions has to do with asserting how Ugandan artists have always tended to adapt their political criticism to the weakness of civil society. The current interest in the public can be seen as a decisive shift, one that Kakande summarizes by saying that in the 21st century “the visual arts are making significant inroads on the political scene” (p. 326).
6 A strong precedent in that sense is the Ngoma International Artists' Workshop Uganda, a project started in 1995 by Rose Kirumira Namubiru. See Namubiru (Citation2008, Citation2014).
7 Besides 32° East, the organizing institutions included Makerere University, AKA Gallery, Nommo Gallery, the Ugandan Museum, Alliance Française Kampala, and the Goethe-Zentrum Kampala. The partnership worked not only at the level of raising funding, but also at the level of curating and decision-making.
8 The chosen artists were Bwambala Ivan Allan, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Eria Nsubuga “Sane,” Eric Mukalazi, Lilian Nabulime, Ronex, Ruganzu Bruno, Sanaa Gateja, Stella Atal, Waswad, Xenson, and Sue Crozier Thorburn (a British artist living in Uganda and the only foreigner in the show).
9 The case of Lilian Nabulime could be a good example of the first. Her project was a continuation of the activity she developed since the early 2000s, when she started experimenting with sculpture as a way of generating social awareness about HIV/AIDS among illiterate communities in Uganda. Having already a vast experience in artistic collaboration, for her intervention in 2012 Nabulime stood in front of her container, dialoguing with the audience about the meaning of her sculpture and the social relevance of AIDS.
10 Closed in 1992, with KLA ART the station was recovered for the first time since then for public usage.
11 This element was original in Ugandan art. Besides “placing the artists into the map,” it served to encourage a climate of dialogue among the community of creators and the festival's audience.
13 It is essential to remark here on the existence of a strong tradition of customizing and diversifying boda bodas, matatus, and other vehicles dedicated to informal transport. KLA ART 014 seconds this phenomenon, using art to channel some of the—again—already existing aspirations for social recognition and improvements in security conditions of the sector, while benefiting from the vibrant visual inventiveness of Kampala's vernacular scene. It in no way initiated this context of practice.
14 On DAPU, see http://www.freetocharities.org.uk/dapu/aboutus.html.
15 The boda boda project was not exempt from a surprising and flashy effect. For many, the artistic customizations of boda bodas might have been perceived as crazy objects amid the rows of vehicles populating Kampala. While that gimmicky dimension was present in the relations between artists, drivers, and audiences, it cannot account for the whole diversity of experiences and exchanges engendered by the initiative.
17 The Boda Boda Lounge project is a biennial video festival linked to African urban practices. Since its first edition in 2014, it has itinerated across several African countries, activating a number of side events and initiatives in the different contexts where it lands.
20 See https://immymali.wordpress.com/.
21 See http://vansa.co.za/.
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Carlos Garrido Castellano
Carlos Garrido Castellano ([email protected]) is FCT Post-Doctorate Researcher at the Centre for Comparative Studies of the University of Lisbon. His research focuses on socially engaged art, curatorship, and postcolonial theory. Currently, he is the main researcher of the “Comparing We's: Collectivism, Emancipation, Postcoloniality” research project. He has done extensive fieldwork research in the Caribbean area, the United States, and Africa, and he has collaborated with journals such as Third Text, Social Identities, Travessia, Anthurium, and Cultural Dynamics.