Relying essentially on archival and library research, this article examines the (hi)story of exhibition making in Enugu and Nsukka (the political and educational capitals of Nigeria’s eastern region, respectively), beginning from the immediate postcolonial epoch of the 1960s, through the post-war period of the 1970s to the 1980s-1990s, historical periods when Nigerian artists constructed and consolidated their own perspectives on aesthetic modernism.
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Category: Academic Articles
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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In this article Moses Serubiri presents a short history of africa95, the Royal Academy of Arts initiated platform. Using this exhibition as a case study for the development of a contemporary African art discourse, the paper raises questions about the subjective frameworks informing contemporary African art exhibitions, such as collecting of artworks, historical methodology, accessible networks, mobility, and the expansion of artistic discourses.
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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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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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At the launch of Another Roadmap Africa Cluster, at Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD) on 25th July 2015, some of the panelists choose to address the audience in Luganda, a local language in Uganda. The initial impression on the invited guests that included academics, artists, art managers and writers was of confusion and awkwardness.
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