Exhibition: Simuda Nyuma - Forward Ever Backward Never

Expositie: Simuda Nyuma – Forward Ever Backward Never. Foto: Pixolar Photography / Lara Tompa

6 Aug –
6 Sep 2015

Exhibition: Simuda Nyuma - Forward Ever Backward Never

Openingstijden 6 augustus t/m 6 september 2015 woe-zon 14:00 – 22:00 Locatie Framer Framed in de Tolhuistuin IJpromenade 2 Amsterdam Route Framer Framed in de Tolhuistuin is van Amsterdam Centraal Station bereikbaar met het pontje ‘Buiksloterweg’. De entree van het gebouw ligt direct aan het fietspad langs het IJ. De expositieruimte is bereikbaar via restaurant THT.

The exhibition Simuda Nyuma – Forward Ever Backward Never (2015) curated by Robinah Nansubuga (UG) and Andrea Stultiens (NL) offers work by nine Ugandan artists and two groups of students, one from Uganda Christian University in Mukono and one from Akademie Minerva in Groningen.

Participating artists
Emmanuel Lwanga
Sanaa Gateja
Fred Mutebi
Ian Mwesiga
Violet Nantume
Nathan Omiel
Achola Rosario
Sane (Eria Nsubuga)
Papa Shabani
Xenson Znja.

And students of Uganda Christian University in Mukono and Minerva Academy in Groningen, the Netherlands.

The title Simuda Nyuma revers to a trilogy written in the 1930s by Ham Mukasa, a chief from Buganda, the Kingdom in south Uganda. He was an early literate, an early Christian convert, and known among his people as ‘the scholar who never went to school’. Mukasa (ca. 1870 – 1956) wrote about the lives and times of three Bugandan kings, reigning from the mid 19th century to the 1930s. Mukasa wrote in Luganda, which is still the main language spoken in south central Uganda. Mukasa’s writing and the documents he collected create the opportunity to engage with a specific history that had previously been written and visualised largely by outsiders.

In Mukasa’s family collection, consisting of photographs, books, manuscripts and documents, curator Andrea Stultiens found a list describing images that were intended to, but never did, illustrate the books. The list was used as a starting-point for both Ugandan and Dutch artists to engage with a specific history and to create some of the images on Mukasa’s list. The result can now be seen in this exhibition at Framer Framed. Please find below a link to the hand-out with additional information on the individual works on show.

For Stultiens, the project is part of her larger exploration of the way in which photo collections in Uganda can be used to develop narratives that broaden possible interpretations of its national history. Ebifananyi is the Luganda word for photographs, paintings and any other kind of two-dimensional likeness, as well as the title of this research conducted by Stultiens as part of the PhDArts program of Leiden University. Ugandan curator Robinah Nansubuga became involved with the project through personal interest in cultural histories in general, and of East-Africa in particular.

Public program

Parallel to the exhibition is a complementary public program: Perspectives, curated by Amal Alhaag. For the realization of this program we would like to thank Stichting Doen.

De-toothing Africa – 11th August, 20:00h
An evening with an intimate reading of the family archive of Caroline Kamya.

Deciphering and Reclaiming Histories – 25th August, 20:00h
Artist talk with participating artist Papa Shabani and artist Xenson Znja.

Questioning the explorer – 1st September, 20:00h
With a performances by Xenson Znja, a presentation by Teresa Maria Nerio and lecture by art critic David Kaiza.

Credits

The exhibition has been made possible with the support of 32º Degrees East: Ugandan Arts Trust, a centre based in Kampala for the creation and exploration of contemporary Ugandan art. During an artist in residency at 32º Degrees East, the participating artists Emmanuel Lwanga, Achola Rosario and Papa Shabani produced their work on shown at Simuda Nyuma. Additionally, 32º Degrees East organised and realised, with support of Stichting Doen, a visit of artist Xenson Znja to Amsterdam, for a special performance intervention during the exhibition. See video above.

This exhibition could not have been realised without the support of the Mondriaan Fund and Stichting Doen.