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31/7/2014

Kampala Art Biennale 2014

Different venues, Kampala

This project consists of an exhibition of 100 artworks including paintings and photographs, 45 artists from 13 African countries working under the theme Proggresive Africa and panel discussions on the relation between Art, culture and Tourism. This initiative is part of a strategic partnership between Kampala Arts Trust and Uganda Tourism Board.

THE CONTEXT Whereas there's a lot of value in the adoption of culturally sensitive and sustainable methods to pursue development goals, such as spreading the message of HIV/AIDS prevention through local cultural methods, there is still a skeptic and lackadaisical mentality about the importance of culture in bolstering holistic transformation in developing countries. However, in the more progressive communities of the world, creative industries are increasingly being seen as generators of economic development, and potential supporters of sustainable livelihoods. One case in point is a focus by UNESCO on cultural policy. In a Convention, ratified in 2007, member states agreed to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions by tackling issues such as copyright, international trade rights in the cultural sector and assisting artists and cultural practitioners. In particular, though, it was through the affirmation of a state’s sovereign right to adopt and implement cultural policies aimed at fostering the growth of the creative industries that the Convention sought to release the economic, social and human development potential of culture. However, contemporary African art is glaringly missing out on most of these culture and developmental policy deliberations.
Adopted from PUTTING CULTURE FIRST, a commonwealth Foundation Research Program

Therefore in response, Kampala art biennale was established as a showcase of contemporary art from Africa with the goal to expose, educate and create debate about the value of art in society. It was established to recognize, and integrate African contemporary art that is being created on the peripherals of mainstream information avenues. Kampala art biennale was established by Kampala Arts Trust www.kampalaarts.org, a collective of visual and performance art practitioners living and working in public and private spaces within the precinct of Kampala city. It was born out of the need for inclusion expressed by artists working on the African continent trying to reach the global art scene. Kampala art biennale is afro-centric in nature in that it seeks to promote only artists (foreign or native) working on the African continent by creating a vibrant and visible platform.

THE PROJECT

THE EXHIBITION: Progressive Africa
Progressive Africa is a theme derived from the current Pan African – and increasingly global discussion of AFRICA IS NOW versus AFRICA IS THE FUTURE.
Today in Africa, you will come across divergent conversations between different kinds of people; African with African, African with European, Indian with American, all talking about the status of Africa in the global village. Some will say Europe and the rest of the world are moving to Africa for opportunities while others will say African economies are growing into Global markets. In these conversations there is talk about which strategies are the best to accelerate Africa’s progress towards fulfilling the millennium development goals (MDGS) such as curbing poverty, improving formal education. There are even those who express doubt whether this education is important at all. There is increased concern from the west about increased Chinese investment on the continent. The growing urbanization of African populations fuelled by the increased entrepreneurial shift into the service industry is also an issue of note. All these vibrations suggest one thing; that something is happening on the African continent whether right now as it moves into the future.
The Kampala Art Biennale 2014 is part of this discussion under the theme PROGRESSIVE AFRICA. It is calling on African painters, photographers, illustrators, cartoonists, writers and all 2D media artists to present their perception of the current status of Africa through visual art. The verdict will result in over 100 images pro or against the purported progress, with viewers and visitors joining in on the discussion with the help of the visual aids. We believe that this will result in questioning of African political, social and economic practices.
The Kampala Art Biennale 2014 is set to serve as a conduit through which to start a debate that we so desperately need right now about a modern and progressive Africa starting right here in Kampala. There is a need to generate discussions centered on looking beyond aid to the financial resources Africa needs to enable transformative growth.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Art, Culture and Tourism
The one day national discussion will be held on the 1st of August 2014 at the Uganda Museum and it will gather experts in art, culture and tourism sectors. This panel discussion aims to discuss the relationship between these sectors and to provide recommendations for collaborative strategies. The event will be broadcast live online to enable global participation.

SELECTED ARTISTS
Uganda Ronex Ahimbisibwe, Paul Ndema, Kalungi Kabuye, Anwar Sadat Nakibinge, Eria Nsubuga Sane, Joshua Ibanda, Ronnie Tindi Chris, Ronald Kerango, Henk Jonker, Wasswa Donald, Babriye Leila, Gillian Gibbons, Shelley Van Heusen.
Kenya Samuel Githui, Justus Kyalo, Yassir Ali Mohammed, Brian Omolo, Michael Soi.
South Africa Samson Mnisi, Senzo Njabulo Shabangu, Nico Phooko, Rael Salley, Daniel Rankadi Mosako, Sylvie Phillips, Sipho Mpongo, Juan Orrantia.
Ethiopia AlexanderTadesse, Ezra Wube, Yonas Melesa, Zerihun Seyoum
Angola Angel Ihosvanny Felicidade
Ghana Florine Demosthene, Akwele Suma GLORY
Nigeria Ufuoma Isiavwe, Olusola Otori
Togo Da Costa Kwami
Cote d Ivoire Gopal Dagnogo
Zimbabwe Tashinga Matindike Gondo, Danisile Ncube, Rudo Nyangulu, Nick Monro
DRC Georges Senga
Mali Harandane Dicko
Tanzania Jan van Esch

SIDE EVENTS
Kampala art biennale 2014 is partnering with other art and cultural organizations to run a series of side events. These will include;

Body Mapping Workshops and Exhibition
Date: 8th August 2014
Venue: Happier Tilapia
Event Description: French Curator/Artist/Art Therapist Sylvie Groschatau-Phillips hosts a free workshop for the public and artists. Body mapping workshops are interactive experiences that nurture self-expression, healing, discussion and debate. Participants use Batik and Pastels to tell their stories. The exhibition will also showcase work from previous workshops in France, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Art and Entrepreneurship workshops
Date: 11th August 2014
Facilitators: Samson Mnisi, Taku Mkencele, Murray Ingram
Venue: Gusto, Kisementi
Event Description: South African Artist Samson Mnisi, filmmaker/writerTaku Mkencele and Murray Ingram, founder of Connect. Connect is a South Africa based NGO that provides business opportunities, funding and incubator services to entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds. One of their projects is the successful Department of Coffee project in Khayelitsha Cape Town
Peace installation by Ronald Kerango (Uganda)

Bioscope under the stars
Dates: 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th August 2014
Venue: Wine Garage, Muyenga
Event: outdoor Screening of Short films and animation. The event will feature the Work of Kampala University Students, an animated collaboration between Ugandan musician and artist Yokman and South African filmmaker Taku Mkencele, and a short film on migration by a South African collective called Urban Clutch.

Peace
Date: 22nd August 2014
Venue: Uganda Museum
Description: Ugandan artist Ronald ‘RO’ Kerango will install a massive site specific artwork made out of recycled materials. The artwork is a call for regional peace.

Presenting the mastectomy
Date: 15th August 2014
Venue: Makerere university medical school
Description: An exhibition of photographs taken by medical illustrator John Nyende. The photos show step by step snapshots of the procedure of mastectomy operations.

THE CATALOGUE
Progressive Africa is the project’s publication presenting the exhibition and the concepts behind it. It features essays including;
“The vernacular of contemporary art, is it a manifestation of a glocal l personality?” by Bandile Gumbi
“Africa, Kampala and the Irony of Progress” by Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi-art critic
“Progressive Africa? – Re questioning the current, “Africa is Now discourse versus Africa is the Future”.
By Raphael Chikukwa -Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe

THE CURATORS

Daudi Karungi - Uganda
Daudi is one of Kampala’s premier artists and art promoters. He is the owner and curator of Afriart Gallery, one of the leading galleries in Kampala. He is also a conceptual artist, who’s works are collected widely by art aficionados across the world. Daudi has been at the forefront of a new movement to promote Ugandan art inside and outside the country. He co-founded START, a journal of arts and culture that is the first ever publication of its kind in Uganda. He is a founding member of the Kampala Arts Trust, a successful business man and initiator of the first Kampala Art Biennale. www.daudikarungi.com

Henry ‘Mzili’ Mujunga - Uganda
Henry Mujunga, known in art circles as Mzili, has graduated with honours from Margaret Trowel School of Industrial Fine Art (MTSIFA) of Makerere University. He is also a holder of a Postgraduate Diploma in Education of the same University. Mzili is an eclectic artist. He enjoys painting, sculpture, printmaking and performance art. He is exploring ways of reviving indigenous expression among his fellow artists. Thus he believes in networking between Ugandan and other African artists in order to share cultural content for their artwork. He is a member of the East African art group Index Mashariki that seeks to re-establish relevancy for art in the local community. He is also a member of the Pan African Circle of Artists (PACA) that links artist working for the integration of Africa through art. Mzili is the prestigious winner of the coveted Royal Overseas League (ROSL) art scholarship 2003.

THE JURY

Raphael Chikukwa - Zimbabwe
Chikukwa is born in Zimbabwe and worked mainly as an independent curator for the past ten years before joining the National Gallery of Zimbabwe mid 2010 as it’s Chief Curator. He is currently the Zimbabwe Pavilion curator for the 55th Venice Biennale. Chikukwa is the founder and 1st Zimbabwe Pavilion curator at the 54th Venice Biennale 2011. After taking Zimbabwe to Venice in 2011, Chikukwa has taken part in a number of Forums that include, Re Zimbabwe Pavilion talk at INIVA (London) 1st World Biennale Forum in South Korea, KLA ART 2012 (Uganda). His qualifications and international experience earned this position at the national institution, which he hopes to change the visual arts landscape of Zimbabwe. Chikukwa was awarded the 2006 – 2007 Chevening Scholar now holds an MA Curating Contemporary Design from Kingston University London. Chikukwa is a founding staff member of the PUMA funded Creative Africa Network as an editor and advisor of the project from 2008 – 2009. Recently he was among seven Curators from Africa attending the Tate Modern Symposium “Curating Africa where he presented a paper on his curatorial practice.

Bandile Gumbi - South Africa
Bandile is a KwaZulu Natal raised creative writer and artist. Since 2000 she has performed in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, mainly at poetry clubs and art exhibitions. She is a founding member of 3rd Eye Vision, an artist- administrated interdisciplinary arts organisation based in Durban. She has also collaborated with visual artists and participated in interdisciplinary arts workshops and exhibitions in Cape Town through ThupeloWorkshops organised by Greatmore Studios. Her poetry has appeared in magazines and journals in South Africa ; the established feminist journal Agenda has published her prose and short fiction. She performs and exhibit poetry by fusing different art disciplines as she believes that all arts come from the same creative source. Bandile has self- published a poetry book titled ‘ Pangs of Initiation’ in 2004 and is working on her second poetry book. She is currently pursuing a PHD in African Studies at the University of Cape Town with a focus on African art periodicals.

Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi - Nigeria
Krydz is a painter, art critic, ethno-aesthetician and cultural entrepreneur who studied art at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in first class in 1992. He is the founder of the Pan-African Circle of Artists (PACA) and Emeritus President of The Art Republic (also known as Centre for Arts and Cultural Democracy), Enugu. He has participated in workshops and creative residencies and has directed Afrika Heritage (the PACA Biennale), Overcoming Maps (PACA Study Tour of Africa), and the Mmanwu Theatre in Enugu. Ikwuemesi has researched and published on aspects of Igbo arts and is presently engaged in a comparative study of Igbo and Ainu arts and cultures. He is the editor of two major journals: The Art Republic and Letter from Afrika. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and was recently a Visiting Professor at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. He has been a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies African Humanities Program and is the coordinator of the Death Studies Association of Nigeria. A committed artist, he has held several solo and group exhibitions and has published many articles on art in professional journals.

IMPORTANT DATES
3rd July 2014
Kampala Art Biennale 2014 media launch, Uganda Tourism Board, 11:00hrs
1st August 2014
Art, Culture and Tourism panel discussion, Uganda Museum, 16:00 hrs. On invitation, live on social media
1st August 2014
KAMPALA ART BIENNALE 2014 – Progressive Africa official opening of the exhibition, Uganda Museum, 17:30hrs
2nd August 2014.
KAMPALA ART BIENNALE 2014 – Progressive Africa exhibition, Uganda Museum, Nommo Gallery, Makerere Art Gallery. Open to the public
31st August 2014
KAMPALA ART BIENNALE 2014 – Progressive Africa exhibition closes.

CONTACTS
Elizabeth Mbabazi, Afriart Gallery, info@kampalabiennale.org +256 772 662 575
Daudi Karungi, Kampala Arts Trust, daudi@afriartgallery.org +256 712 455 555

Venues: Uganda Museum, Nommo Gallery, Makerere Art Gallery

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