Ebifananyi 4, based on the Ham Mukasa Foundation Archive that HIPUganda digitised, has had several exhibition versions. This one is part of Global Imaginations, an exhibition organised by Museum de Lakenhal in Leiden in an old factory.In this installation the visitor had the opportunity to dive into several themes that were important in Ham Mukasa life, that was lived from around 1870 till 1956. During that time religious wars raged, his kingdom Buganda became part of a colonial structure called a protectorate, and the movement towards the independence of the colonial construct Uganda started. Ham Mukasa wrote about three of his Kings and their times. A list of illustrations that was never made was an invitation for Ugandan artists and Dutch and Ugandan art students to engage with the history he imagined.On seven tables, each dealing with one specific theme from Ham Mukasa’s life and/or writing, the visitor could do his or her own investigation, based on text fragments, video’s and the illustrations made by the artists and art students.See this short film for thoughts on the translation of the title of Ham Mukasa’s book on the three Kings; Simuda Nyuma, and the Luganda word Ekifananyi by curator Robinah Nansubuga and Artist Nathan Omiel. This is one of the other exhibitions, with a stronger emphasis on the work of the artists and students.Participating artists in this exhibition are Achola Rosario, Eria Nsubuga, Fred Mutebi, Ian Mwesiga, Lwanga Emmanuel, Nathan Omiel, Papa Shabani, Sanaa Gateja and Violet Nantume. The Ugandan students followed Eria Nsubuga’s painting course at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, while the Dutch students were part of an elective I taught under the name ‘Illustrating (for) others’ at Academy Minerva in Groningen.
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Keep the Best of Your Life (for the Rest of Your Life) is part Making Oneself ‘a twofold exhibition of both historical investigations and contemporary showcases of photo studio practises in South and Southeast Asia and Uganda.’ ‘Making Oneself’ was one exhibitions of the Noorderlicht Photo festival 2015.The South and Southeast Asia part of the show on the ground floor was curated by Alexander Supartono, while the Ugandan bit in the basement was put together by me and includes historical photographs by Musa Katuramu, Elly Rwakoma, William Kayamba and Mzee Edward Lule. And contemporary images by Rumanzi Canon, Papa Shabani, Arthur Kisitu and photographic documentation that I made of 6 photo studio’s in northern Ugandan town Kitgum in 2011.What I tried to do with the exhibition is to show the power of the photographic portrait as a way to present yourself and to control in which you will remember former selves and be remembered by others.
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This interactive virtual museum provides insights into LGBTIQ+ issues by presenting the history and utilization of pride flags and different legal situations worldwide and by pointing out the meaning of identity markers and their interconnectedness. This is complemented with an intimate engagement through photography, personal narratives from members of the LGBTIQ+ community and a fully immersive pride parade, allowing users to engage and learn with various stylistic, factual and fun exhibitions.
Under the umbrella of artistic sustenance, I question the life of materials, subjective value structures, and working conditions underlying exhibition making through three interconnected areas of inquiry: Material Life and Ecological Impact — how to avoid the accumulation of physical materials/storage after exhibitions? I aim to highlight the provenance and afterlife of exhibition materials in my practice, seeking economic and ecological alternatives to traditional practices through sustainable solutions like borrowing, reselling, and alternative storage methods that could transform exhibition material handling and thoughts on material storage and circulation. Value Systems and Economic Conditions —what do we mean when we talk about 'value' in relation to art? By examining the flow of financial value in contemporary art and addressing the subjectivity of worth in art-making and artists' livelihoods, I question traditional notions of sculptural skill while advocating for recognition of conceptual labour. The research considers how artists might be compensated for the elegance of thought rather than just material output. Text as Archive and Speculation— how can text can store, speculate, and circulate the invisible labour and layers of exhibition making? Through titles, material lists, and exhibition texts, I explore writing's potential to uncover latent structures and document invisible labor, considering text both as an archiving method and a tool for speculating about future exhibitions. Using personal practice as a case study, ‘Conditions for Raw Materials’ seeks to question notions of value in contemporary art, develop alternative economic models, and make visible the material, financial, and relational flows within exhibitions. The research will manifest through international exhibitions, a book combining poetic auto-theoretical reflection with exhibition speculation, new teaching formats, and long-term investigations. Following “sticky relations," of intimacy, economy and conditions, each exhibition serves as a case study exploring exhibition making from emotional, ecological, and economic perspectives.
A series of elective courses and exhibitions in which students at Minerva Art and Uganda Christian University are in dialogue about and through portraits they make
