We have presidents Joyce Banda and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; we have a Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangaari Mathai; we have authors and politicians; we have business moguls and the Mama Benzes. Yet, when recognizing the achievements of women on 8th March, International Women’s Day, the discourse does not go beyond education of the girl child.

The exhibition ‘Eroticism and Intimacy: Faces, Places, and Paths’ seeks to confront the gap in the discourse on African women on the historic worldwide celebration. Co-curated by Violet Nantume, Peter Genza, and Serubiri Moses, the show opens on 8th March in Kampala, comprising 20 artists from 5 countries, and explores the question of intimacy and erotic desire. Further, the exhibition proposes that African women can be emancipated, not only on world stages, but in sexual relations and intimate encounters. Body Pedagogy, a workshop staged during the exhibition, will explore these questions via theory.

Sexual intimacy continues to be a taboo subject; sexual education for students is confined to biology lessons on reproductive health. Outside of the biology class, sexual education in hospitals and NGOs focusses on early girl child pregnancy, and HIV prevention. Sex is medicalized; the body is dangerous. By exploring the faces, spaces, and paths of intimacy, characterisitic to the body, this exhibition goes beyond the biological and medicalized readings of sex.

The curators say that, “We are tackling the twin subjects of eroticism and intimacy as we want to create a forum in which the two can be openly and intelligently discussed. We believe that this will give participants, and audiences alike, the opportunity to talk about their erotic experiences in a candid way, developing a public dialogue that can shed light on the often illusive issues of the faces, places, and paths of sexual intimacy.”

The photography, painting, and performance art in this exhibition includes various readings of eroticism, desire, and intimacy. Both women and men are represented, and opposite-sex as well as same-sex intimacy is represented. There are also explorations of the psychological states of desire, as well as the rituals and ceremonies around sexual intimacy.

Artists:

Alex Kwizera (UG)
Ange Swana (DRC)
Clavers Odhiambo (KE)
David Ndungu Maina (KE)
Denis Mubiru (UG)
Esther Mababazi (UG)
Habeeb Mukasa (UG)
O’neal Mujumbura (UG)
Ibrahim Nsubuga (UG)
Izabiriza Moses (RW)
James Wassswa (UG)
Moses Nyawanda (KE)
Papa Shabani (UG)
Raymond Abel Bamutiire (UG)
Ronex Ahimbisibwe (UG)
Sarah Nakiganda (UG)
Sheila Nakitende (UG)
Stacey Gillian Abe (UG)
Tindimwebwa Ronnie (UG)
Winifrid Luena (TZ)