Lilian Nabulime @ SOAS

Twisted Woman - Lilian Nabulime (2008)

There’s a rare chance this week to hear Ugandan sculptor Lilian Nabulime discuss her work, at a talk entitled ‘A Post-Modern Sculptor from Uganda – Developing a Sculptural Practice’. Nabulime is a Professor of Sculpture at Makerere University, Kampala, and works mostly with tree stumps, which she coaxes into elegant, rhythmic forms using a hammer and chisel. More details here.

Thursday 8th March, 5-7

Room B102
Brunei Gallery
Thornhaugh St, London
WC1H 0XG

Zarina Bhimji @ Whitechapel Gallery

Your Sadness is Drunk - Zarina Bhimji (2001-2006)

I’m really looking forward to checking out this survey exhibition of photographs and films by Ugandan-born British artist Zarina Bhimji. The show includes her 2002 film Out of Blue, which explores the experiences of Ugandan Asians and, according to the artist, is about ‘learning to listen to difference’; and also her latest film Yellow Patch (2011), which was shot in India and reflects on migrations across the Indian Ocean.

The show continues until 9th March.

Opening hours:
Tues-Sun, 11-6 (Thurs 11-9)

Whitechapel Gallery
77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London
E1 7QX

Imani and others at the BFI London Film Festival

 

Imani (2010) - dir. Caroline Kamya

 

Thanks to a tip-off from my friends at African Screens, were I in London during the upcoming 54th BFI London Film Festival, I’d be sure to check out Imani, the debut feature film  from Caroline Kamya, about a day in the life of a former child soldier, a maid and a hip-hop dancer in Kampala. You can read an interview with the director here and find out about screenings here.

Other African film highlights of the festival include:

• ‘New African Cinema‘: a trio of shorts – The Tunnel, Pumzi and Saint Louis Blues – made through the Africa First mentoring scheme (14/15 Oct)
• Zimbabwean documentary Shungu: The Resilience of a People (18/19 Oct)
• Microphone, set in Alexandria’s underground music scene, the second feature from director Ahmad Abdalla after last year’s Heliopolis (18/19/20 Oct)
• a story of love and war set in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, Relentless (20/21 Oct)
• a tale of courage in the face of prejudice in a South African community, Life, Above All (26/27 Oct)