Thursday, 28 Mar 2024
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Maisha Gardens

Maisha Gardens

Overlooking Lake Victoria, Maisha Garden is designed as a series of open classrooms in nature to foster discussion, learning and contemplation. Founded by filmmaker Mira Nair, Maisha Garden is a multidisciplinary art space located on Buziga Hill in Kampala. Designed by award-winning architect-for-change Raul

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AKA Gallery

AKA Gallery former Tulifanya Gallery was established in 1995. The principle of the Gallery is to promote contemporary, modern African art through exhibitions and portfolio management of Ugandan and other African artists.  Over the years the gallery has grown with an

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Umoja Art Gallery

The main objective of this gallery is to enable national and international visitors to revive Uganda’s cultural heritage and to become enamored with multi-centralism, so as to stimulate potential in the artists living in Uganda, to encourage the exchange of

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Nommo Gallery

The Nommo Gallery, founded and established in 1964 by the 1959 Act of Parliament, is Uganda’s National Art Gallery and a component of the Uganda National Cultural Centre (UNCC). The Nommo Gallery features exhibitions of works of art by both

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Artist impression of group photo of participants at the First Conference of African Writer of English Expression, Makerere University, 1962 (Illustration: Dada Khanyisa). Image from Chimurenga Chronic.

Art Crossroads with Ugandan Mastery – Interview with Dr. Kyeyune

In anticipation of a busy creative art season kicking off in August 2018 and the KAB18’s “The Studio” concept launched recently, many contemporary artists and audiences lurk within corridors in search of the creative voice of Makerere Art Gallery amidst the prevailing visual discourse. Philip Balimunsi interviews Professor George Kyeyune, Director of Makerere Art Gallery/Institute of Heritage Conservation and Restoration, about contemporary issues in Uganda. Kyeyune asserts the cultural affluence of Makerere Art Gallery in the East African arts scene.

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Art in Kampala at Work 012

The essay “Art in Kampala at Work 012” is a reflective report by Katrin Klaphake, and it was written in 2013, when the memories were still fresh and present. In 2012, two innovative and unusual public art events took place in Kampala: the international exhibition “Art at Work” and the local contemporary art festival KLA ART. Since then, a lot has happened. 2014 saw two bi-annual art events, the second edition of KLA ART and the launch of the Kampala Art Biennale. Fast forward to 2018: the city is buzzing with cultural and art related activities to the extent that the month of August goes under the title of art month. With the view to these upcoming activities this text reminds us of some of the discussions in the early days of Kampala’s biennalisation and contributes to the writing of the exhibition histories of the city.

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African Art History and the Formation of a Modern Aesthetic

The research project “African Art History and the Formation of a Modern Aesthetic” examines artworks of African Modernisms housed in museum collections. This first set of contributions for Start – Journal of Arts and Culture is the result of a public symposium at the Uganda National Museum in 2016 held as fringe event of the Kampala Art Biennale. In the coming months, the series will be continued with papers on a variety of topics related to African Modernisms and its contemporary relevance.

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Jantien Zuurbier

Startjournal 2018: New Media, Channels and Connections – Editorial

The Journal has always aspired to be an indigenous-driven publication critically analysing and documenting contemporary arts and culture in Uganda. It would be even more valuable if the content of StartJournal is influencing the mainstream societal narratives. With this in mind we are now developing a larger communication strategy with the aim to connect the Startjournal content to other media. We foresee to increase the visibility of StartJournal content by pushing it to newspapers, news programs on TV and Radio and through social media channels.

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The Boda Moment. Positioning Socially-Engaged Art in Contemporary Uganda

In this article Carlos Garrido Castellano examines two socially engaged Ugandan art projects: the Disability Art Project Uganda (DAPU), and Lilian Nabulime’s AIDS sculpture. By analyzing both initiatives, I attempt to characterize a new moment in the relations between artistic practice and social intervention in the Ugandan context. I argue that projects such as DAPU and Nabulime’s are confronting the current Ugandan situation of economic and political transformation, marked by the weight of the informal and the challenge of a nation-based cultural sphere. Finally, I point out some similarities with other African socially-engaged art initiatives.

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