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3‘Staying Alive’ is the title of an exhibition and of the 7th book in the Ebifananyi series and two exhibitions. One of the exhibitions took place at Afriart Gallery, the other one on the balcony of the new six story inpatient building of the Uganda Cancer Institute. Books and exhibitions present photographic documentation from the late 1960s and early 1970s and from more recent pasts, and reflections in words on the photographs and the history of the institute by Marissa Mika and I.
The Uganda Cancer Institute was the first major cancer research and treatment facility in the Great Lakes region. It celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. While part of the reputation of the institute was/is that it is a place where people (are sent to) die, the aim is of course to keep them alive and develop knowledge about the disease that caught them.
TENTOONSTELLING
In Luganda, the widest spoken minority language in East African country Uganda, the word for photographs is Ebifananyi. However, ebifananyi does not, contrary to the etymology of the word photographs, relate to light writings. Ebifananyi instead means things that look like something else. Ebifananyi are likenesses.
My research project explores the historical context of this particular conceptualisation of photographs as well as its consequences for present day visual culture in Uganda. It also discusses my artistic practice as research method, which led to the digitisation of numerous collections of photographs which were previously unavailable to the public. This resulted in eight books and in exhibitions that took place in Uganda and in Europe.
The research was conducted in collaboration with both human and non-human actors. These actors included photographs, their owners, Ugandan picture makers as well as visitors to the exhibitions that were organised in Uganda and Western Europe. This methodology led to insights into differences in the production and uses of, and into meanings given to, photographs in both Ugandan and Dutch contexts.
Understanding differences between ebifananyi and photographs shapes the communication about photographs between Luganda and English speakers. Reflection on the conceptualisations languages offer for objects and for sensible aspects of the surrounding world will help prevent misunderstandings in communication in general.
PROMOTIEONDERZOEK INTERN, AFSTUDEREN EXTERN
Website version of archival platform set up as research tool and research dissemination tool, publishing digitised photo collections and reflecting on them in blog section of the website.
WEBSITE
The increasing demand for Prunus africana resources is an opportunity for its conservation and commercial use to support livelihoods in Africa. The objective for this study was to investigate major steps to advance production of P. africana for long-term commercial use in Uganda. Specific objectives were to explore potential production schemes, setbacks in production and strategies to advance it. The study was done by review of literature, documents and interviews with experts. Results indicated Agroforestry and large plantations to be useful schemes for production. Identified setbacks are: low trade in P. africana, unknown returns from production, competing land uses, long growth period, limited market assurance and information. The lack of a resource assessment for P. africana in forests contributes to its low trade which undermines related economic benefits for national development and incentives to commercial production. We propose that a national Quantitative resource assessment of P. africana in forests is one of the crucial steps that should be undertaken to carefully organise and advance sustainable trade to provide rational incentives for commercial production. Subsequently, production should be localised in suitable sites and producers be organised into cooperatives. Further research to improve returns from commercial production of P. africana is needed.
ARTIKEL
Climate change is undermining the importance and sustainability of cooperatives as important organizations in small holder agriculture in developing countries. To adapt, cooperatives could apply carbon farming practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their business by increasing yields, economic returns and enhancing ecosystem services. This study aimed to identify carbon farming practices from literature and investigate the rate of application within cooperatives in Uganda. We reviewed scholarly literature and assed them based on their economic and ecological effects and trade-offs. Field research was done by through an online survey with smallholder farmers in 28 cooperatives across 19 districts in Uganda. We identified 11 and categorized them under three farming systems: organic farming, conservation farming and integrated farming. From the field survey we found that compost is the most applied CFP (54%), crop rotations (32%) and intercropping (50%) across the three categorizations. Dilemmas about right organic amendment quantities, consistent supplies and competing claims of residues for e.g. biochar production, types of inter crops need to be solved in order to further advance the application of CFPs amongst crop cooperatives in Uganda.
NIET BEKEND
The fourth overview exhibition in the Ebifananyi project was also the show that accompanied my PhD defence on the 20th of November 2018. The emphasis of the exhibition was on the shared presentations bridging some of the differences between photographs in Uganda and photographs in Western Europe, as discussed in my dissertation ‘Ebifananyi, a study of photographs in Uganda in and through an artistic practice’
TENTOONSTELLING
Academic libraries collect process and preserve and provide access to unique collections in
support of teaching, learning and research. Digitisation of local history collections has been
undertaken as a way to preserving fragile materials and promoting access. On the other had
social networking tools provide new ways of providing access to various collections to a
wider audience. The purpose of the study was to explore how local history collections are
promoted using social media in Uganda. An environmental scan of cultural heritage
institutions in Uganda with a social media initiative was conducted. A case study of History
In Progress Uganda project is reported in the paper. The project is chosen based on the level
of activity and ability to provide different approaches and practices in using social media
platforms. Findings revealed varying levels of activity. Nevertheless, there still exist
challenges of promoting access to local history collections. The paper offers insights into the
nature and scope of activity in promoting local history collections in Uganda.
PAPER
An installation, presented as part of the Thessaloniki Photobiennale 2018, reflecting on the earlier Ebifananyi exhibitions at the photo museum in Antwerp, Belgium and The Uganda Museum.
TENTOONSTELLING
With only one in five secondary-school aged children attending secondary school, a quarter of teenaged girls being pregnant or already having a child (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2012), and one out of every five people living below the poverty line in Uganda (CIA, 2013) statistics show the ever prevalent need for sexuality education. As an organisation working in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, Reproductive Health Uganda wants to standardise and integrate sexuality education in all their projects through developing and rolling out a sexuality education intervention. The challenges faced in this are the concept of ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ being questioned by the government, and the implementer being the main determinant of what information is provided because they have no handbook to follow. To address these challenges, Reproductive Health Uganda needed to redefine and scope sexuality education. Based on the field and desk research sexuality education was defined as follows: ‘providing age-appropriate information on the aspects of sexuality in order to increase knowledge and build (life) skills which enables the individual to understand oneself and make informed decisions’. Based on the outcomes of this research, eleven recommendations for the future sexuality education intervention were made which can be related to either the preparation or sustainability of the intervention.
ARTIKEL
The launch of the sixth book in the Ebifananyi series took place at literary festival Writivism 2016, that was themed ‘Restoring Connections’. The book is based on negatives that are part of the collection of the Brothers of Christian Instruction in Kisubi, the ‘Facebooks’ of classes of boys available at St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK), and part of the entomological collection of the school’s biology lab, established in the late 1920s. More information about the book will be posted soon.
The exhibition takes place in the Natural History wing of the Uganda Museum. The display cases are charming but static and dated. One of them gives credit to Sebastiane Nsubuga and Brother Adrian. Nsubuga is still the lab technician of the boys only Catholic boarding school, that exists since 1906.
No better place then to link the museum, that is in its current state not only a museum that familiarises the visitor with the country Uganda, but also of the ideas about how a culture, a history, a natural history should be displayed.
TENTOONSTELLING