THE BAGANDA

In this exhibition, Ugandan artist Eria Nsubuga ‘SANE’ presents a new body of drawing, painting and collage objects that respond directly to John Roscoe’s 1911 book, The Baganda: An Account of Their Customs and Beliefs.

As SANE (who identifies as Muganda) reveals in his work, the attempt to randomly collect measurements of Africans’ bodies and facial features, and to subject Buganda beauty to a European gaze, is deeply problematic. Responding to the anthropometric table of measurements in Roscoe’s book, SANE creates three-dimensional collages of specific clan members. With biting and, at times, mischievous ridicule, he critiques the entanglement of imperialism, Christianity and aesthetics.

This body of artwork was created during Nsubuga’s tenure as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the SARChI Research Programme in Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa. It extends his earlier involvement in the collective project, Tudda Nyuma, which involved four Ugandan artists, a Dutch artist and several former and current students of art at the Uganda Christian University in Uganda.

Artist's Biography

The Ugandan artist, Eria Nsubuga ‘SANE’ has 22 years of experience as a practicing artist. He has presented solo exhibitions at a number of galleries in Uganda and abroad, including Afriart Gallery (2011-2019), Alliance Francaise (2004, 2007), Alliance Francaise/Goethe Zentrum (2009), Tulifanya Gallery (between 2002-2009), Gallery 122 (USA, 2009) and Galerie AKKU (Netherlands, 2010 and 2014).

‘SANE’ has also participated in a number of group exhibitions at the East African Art Auction (Kenya 2021), Glocal Art Gallery, Denmark (2021), the Cape Town Art Fair (South Africa 2018, 2020), 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair (UK, 2020), Itinerant Objects at the Tate Modern/Tate Exchange/University of Southampton (UK, 2019), the Academie Minerva, Hanzehogeschool Groningen (the Netherlands 2018), Piasa Art Auction, Art Paris Fair in Paris, FNB Johannesburg Art Fair, Icons and Avatars at the David Krut Projects (USA, 2017), the Florence Biennale (2011), Tulipamwe International Artists Exhibition (Namibia 2009), Africa Now! Emerging Talents from A Continent on The Move (USA (2008/2009), Fabrica: Les Yeux Ouverts, Milan Triennale, Milan, Shangai Art Museum, Shanghai and Shiodomeitalia Creative Centre, (Japan 2007), and Fabrica: Les Yeux Ouverts Colors Magazine Notebook Exhibition, Centre Pompidou, (France 2006)

Eria Nsubuga ‘SANE’ is a currently a Postdoctoral fellow in the DSI/NRF SARChI programme, Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa, which operates within the Arts of Africa Global Souths research centre in the Fine Art Department at Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa. He completed a practice-led PhD Art at the Winchester School of Art, Southampton University in January 2021. His work explores metaphors of borders and invented nation-states. He has published in the African Arts journal (MIT Press, 2017), and Transition (Harvard University, 2011).

The exhibition will also be open until the 24th of November (Monday to Friday 10h00-16h00 and Saturday 10h30 13h30). For Appointments call +27 784122161.