AiW note: Following Lizzy Attree’s Words on the Times, in which she spoke about teaching and fundraising during a pandemic; Dami Ajayi’s responses to the same Q&A, in which he discussed his experiences of working as a doctor and writer amidst COVID-19; and our most recent Words from Nduka Otiono, who powerfully relays the effects of the #COVOID for books in the production and distribution of Wreaths For a Wayfarer, an anthology of 267 original poems written by 127 poets from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America in honour of Pius Adesanmi, on its release last year, as well as work and life during the pandemic, we are excited to share Teesa Bahana’s reflections on creating nurturing spaces for contemporary art and artists in Uganda with you today.  

Teesa is the director of 32° East I Ugandan Arts Trust, an independent non-profit organization based in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, that’s focused on the creation and exploration of contemporary art in Uganda. 

AiW: Could you tell us a bit about your work and the ways that the pandemic affected your plans?

Teesa Bahana: We run an arts centre in Kampala that provides artists with a nurturing platform for their work, and audiences with experiences to explore art’s possibilities. We do this through our residency programme, discussion series, workshops, library and resource centre, and public arts festival KLA ART. 

After two years of intensive planning and preparation, we had to postpone our festival once it became clear that the pandemic would be with us for a while. We also had ambitions of beginning construction of our new home that has been designed specifically for artists, but the pandemic also impacted our fundraising plans.

How are things on the ground with you and in what ways are you working now that you weren’t before? 

The pandemic hit a lot of people hard economically and artists were no exception. There were a few experiences during the first few months of the pandemic that made us think about how to incorporate more financial opportunities into our  programming. We ramped up our online presence and launched a series called #32StaysatHome, and part of it included sharing financial opportunities with artists. We noticed that there were so many grants that artists in the US and Europe were able to apply to but African artists often weren’t eligible. 

With support of one of our partners, Newcastle University, we were able to offer artists small internet packages and a materials budget. Through our membership in Arts Collaboratory, that is based predominantly in the Global South, we also were able to advocate for an emergency fund so artists in our ecosystems could access small stipends. Now we are working with some of the artists in our community to put together an artists’ cooperative where artists can build savings and have greater financial stability. 

As for the festival, we had been working with 11 artists consistently for about 9 months so for the first few months into the pandemic we were trying to figure out how to restructure, whether or not to postpone, and how to keep gathering. We first had monthly check-ins online and then reached out to amazing public arts practitioners in our network who we ordinarily wouldn’t have had access to, to just hear different perspectives about how they think about and through public art. So in a way, more digital work but with a renewed commitment to what it means to make art for non-traditional arts audiences and how to think about accessibility particularly in these times. 

What have you found most supportive and/or heart lifting in this time?

 Community, collaboration, and   collective working. There have   been so many moments where I   have been completely   overwhelmed with how terrible   everything is for so many people,   and feeling utterly powerless in the   face of so many structures that   seem so immovable. Being a part of something bigger, and working alongside people who believe in making a better world for everyone, is truly life giving.

How can our blog communities support you? 

We have a crowdfunding campaign on right now! It’s for our new home, a purpose-built contemporary art centre, so that artists will always feel like they have a home

and infrastructure that is designed to  support them. It has environmental and financial sustainability at its heart with community at the centre. We’ve raised $325,000 so far, enough to fund phase 1 of construction, but we’re trying to fund all of it and need all hands on deck! No amount is too small, so please contribute if you can. Otherwise shares are free and also impactful so do spread the word; we appreciate your support!

Teesa Bahana is director of 32° East I Ugandan Arts Trust, a not-for-profit that promotes the creation and exploration of contemporary art in Uganda. As director, she has supported the development and execution of projects such as KLA ART Labs for research and critical thinking through public practice, the third edition of KLA ART, Kampala’s public art festival, and residency exchanges.

She is also currently overseeing 32° East’s capital project, raising funds to build the first purpose-built art centre in the country. With an academic background in sociology and anthropology, she is particularly interested in the intersection between art and Ugandan society, and how artistic environments should be protected and nurtured.

Uganda’s New Arts Centre is One Step Closer to Completion

“In Conversation
With its fundraising campaign ongoing, 32º East | Ugandan Arts Trust is nearing a new construction milestone. Nantume Violet spoke to director Teesa Bahana about the latest updates and challenges.”