Development alternatives

…”you are invited to a temporary exhibition in a permanent space”

MUSEUM EXHIBITION

In March 2020 ‘A Temporary Exhibition’, took place in the Uganda National Museum. The exhibition showed impermanent works in a permanent space; a life sized wax sculpture of a woman by Shohrab Jahan, posters of the museums spear collection by photographer Jim Joel, a clay path and projection of water in flood by filmmaker Emilie Flower, a soundscape of ‘Reaching within us to beyond us’ by poet Susan Kiguli and a poetry reading from Ruth Kelly and Susan Kiguli.

The exhibition was in place from the 5th - 9th March 2020. As well as weekend visitors, hundreds of schoolchildren visited the exhibition; removing their shoes to walk along the clay path, touching the burning wax sculpture and examining to question the origins of the ‘spears’ photo exhibit.

The exhibition provided no explanation for the works, but the visitors book suggests that people made many different meanings from the works, remembering childhood experiences, reflecting on the value and permanence of the museum archive, and the histories they choose to show. The artists were asked to be involved in further exhibits in Kampala over the summer (sadly the Corona virus pandemic put a stop to this).

The exhibition was made possible with the kind support of the Uganda National Museum, in particular the commissioner Rose Nkaale Mwanja, the archivist Alice Nanyombi, the museums exhibition team and exhibition invigilator Francesco Odoknyero and help from Kampala based artists Pamela Enyonu, Matt Kayem and Njola Impression. The sculpture was made with the support of the Makerere Fine Arts Institute’s Professor George Keyune (lecturer, art historian and sculptor), and Dr Lilian Nabulime (lecturer and sculptor) and student volunteers from the Institute.

The collaborative process

As well as picking up on the themes of generating multiple perspectives, surfacing memories and the effects of displaced art, producing this exhibition was an opportunity to shift from artistic exchange to collaboration.

Shohrab Jahan joined the Makerere Fine Arts Institute with the support of Dr Lilian Nabulime (lecturer and sculptor) and Professor George Keyune (lecturer, art historian and sculptor) to carry out a residency in the department. During this time he worked on a life sized wax sculpture, helped by a group of student volunteers, and ran a workshop in the Makerere Gallery for students at the Institute. Jim Joel worked with archivists from the Uganda National Museum to activate the archive by photographing spearheads from the museum that demonstrated the diversity of craftsmanship in Ugandan history, calling into question national borders and evoking memories from childhood. This theme of personal memories and interpretations resurfaced through the work of Emilie Flower, who created the clay path installation and in the storytelling workshop run by Ruth Kelly, Dr Susan Kiguli and activist Scovia Arinaitwee alongside the exhibition.

Three Kampalan artists, Pamela Enyonu, Matt Kayem and Njola Impressions took part in activities during the residency – including helping with the installation and attending the storytelling and art workshop - and will be producing an open artistic response to the project over the next few months.

correspondence

Email to Jim Joel from Shohrab Jahan, 20 January 2020

I like to do exhibitions very conventionally or traditionally. Actually for me to change is sometime strange.  So I want to actually see the common format in Kampala. I am basically thinking to follow. “Walk into clay”.

…. slowly or we can fall into it. 

Email from Emilie Flower to Jim Joel, 27th January 2020

The life sized candle figure would be lit on the first evening and burn down. I suppose we check what is possible as regards the flame. Shohrab - do you think it could work outside in the space Jim has in mind? I may need to project the films separately inside, or just as it gets dark if it is outside. The clay floor can work outside.

The idea for the clay floor is to have wet clay - that people may need to take their shoes off to walk into. I could put this in a wooden frame if it was indoors to contain the clay. This will be messy so I would give a guarantee that we would clean it all up at the end. There will be films projected, so I also need to fix a projector somewhere. The clay floor is less necessary than the burning candle.

Email from Emilie Flower to Jim Joel, 20 February 2020

Re: Statues and spears Artistic Engagement 5-7 March 2020

A few thoughts for the sculpture/ clay part of the concept:

The exhibition overlaps with the museums aims where it seeks to 'activate the imagination by reference to our cultural archive' ...in the sculptures case, recognising the way in which poetry creates a new kind of space to think. The clay is something of an invitation to step into this possibility, and the slight commitment we make by doing and knowing so. The films/ sounds are a contribution to the atmospherics of the sculpture.

Concept letter for the exhibition from Jim Joel to the Uganda Museum, 5th March 2020

Re: Museum exhibition concept

My work will involve research about the spears of Uganda, which will include text research referring to Margaret Trowel’s artefacts of Uganda published in 1953 as well as physically visiting the stores with your representative to have a look and select which spears shall be part of the engagement…The exhibition overlaps with the museums aims where it seeks to activate the imagination and references to our cultural archive. It raises questions about artefacts and archive through its permanence...what does this mean, why do we preserve objects, what do we know through them? With poetry, we seek to recognise the way in which poetry creates a new space to think. The film and sound shall be a contribution to the atmospherics of the sculpture, and the spears on display.