The Future is Connected... especially for the Black / African diaspora. As many of you know, I visited 10 African countries in 2023... one of them was Uganda, where I spend a glorious birthday weekend in Kampala among the 32 East community. I got to meet incredible artists, and I experienced the executive director Teesa Bahana in her element -- manifesting a vision of art, community, and love! 

Teesa and I first met, virtually, during the height of the pandemic in summer 2020, and immediately hit it off as two Black/African women then leading arts organizations grounded in communityl. In 2023, I got to visit her in person, and in 2024, I joined the 32 East Board. Full circle. Read more about our vision below and please join me in supporting our work!

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“What the world will become already exists in fragments and pieces in experiments and possibilities. It’s building the future from the present in all the ways we can." Ruth Wilson Gilmore

32° East began construction on a permanent hub for art-making in Uganda, in 2021. Amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became all the more meaningful to have a home for connection, both local and global; a place where artists could explore all dimensions of humanity. In 2023 we launched the first phase of the building, and witnessed artists take ownership of the centre and expand possibilities for art and community in Kampala.

Now, 4 years later, the challenges we face seem even greater. But our centre is physical proof of what collaboration, connection and contributions from hundreds of people can build. In times of crisis, we need each other, we need hope, and we need spaces and places that help us imagine a better world than this, and build towards it.

Our Build the Future Campaign, hosted by our fiscal sponsor Myriad USA, is to support the completion of the new 32° East Art Centre. Over 32 days, from the 28th of April to the 30th of May we plan to raise $100,000 for our new home. The complete 32° East will deliver a regular programme of residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and events, as well as income-generating features such as shops and studios for lease to provide revenue while expanding artist services.

- 6 studios will host up to 24 artist residencies a year to match increased demand throughout the region.
- A workshop will support over 100 artists a year with hands-on experience with new tools and equipment.
- A dedicated art supplies shop will give artists consistent access to quality materials.
- A library, the most publicly accessible arts library in Uganda, will host programs that encourage dialogue and critical reflection on what it means to be alive in these times.
- A cafe will celebrate food with fresh local produce, and host chefs-in residence.
- A gallery will build and challenge new arts audiences, and inspire current and future art-makers

We want a future filled with art and community, where together we learn how to be good citizens of this planet. At 32 we are building this future from the present, from where we are today-- join us!

Help Me Support the 32° East Build the Future Campaign!

32° East is an independent non-profit organisation, focused on the creation and exploration of contemporary art in Uganda. 

32° East provides artists with the support, resources, and community they need to advance their craft, critically reflect our world, and imagine a new one.

Our award-winning ecological centre can be found in Kabalagala, Kampala and includes studios, a contemporary art library and co-working space, computers, meeting areas and lush garden. Our programme offers the visual arts community opportunities for connection through our monthly meet-ups and global networks, provides artists-in-residence with resources to advance their practice, and builds new audiences through Kampala’s longest-running contemporary art festival KLA ART.

In January 2016, leadership was handed over to Teesa Bahana and in March 2016, 32° East purchased a plot of land for the development of its new centre with support from Stichting DOEN and the African Arts Trust. 



Over recent years we have:

hosted over 100 artists in residence

facilitated international exchanges for 23 Ugandan artists 

engaged over 10,000 members of the public through KLA ART 

network of over 50 arts organisations worldwide



Our core funders are Stichting DOEN, the Segal Family Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, and the Sigrid Rausing Trust. 32° East is part of 3 international networks, Arts Collaboratory, Triangle Network and the Prince Claus Fund Fertile Ground partners. 

Over the years we have also received funding from the Prince Claus Fund, ProHelvetia Swiss Arts Council, Ignite Culture, Mimeta, British Council, Bloomberg, the Irish Embassy and the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands.



Vision

A world re-imagined by and for artists, anchored in community



Mission

Transforming how art is created and seen in Uganda, by giving the artists the support they need to critically reflect our world, and imagine a new one



Over the past decade, 32° East has helped to catalyse a burgeoning art scene in Kampala and Uganda. More than 70 artists from Uganda and throughout the world have participated in our residency programme, and many have gone on to win international art prizes, be selected for prestigious international residencies, and receive recognition in publications like The New York Times. We co-founded KLA ART, Kampala’s first Contemporary Art Festival, which integrates newly commissioned art into public spaces throughout the city. 



We’ve brought international attention to the Ugandan art scene, attracting press coverage from the BBC, The Guardian, The Observer, Art Africa, and many more, and hosting dynamic programmes and exchanges with 20 nations on six continents. 

We were a central source of support and community for artists during the pandemic, distributing micro-grants to more than 40 artists through our Pandemic Emergency Response Fund and providing 9,000 artists with online resources through the #32StayAtHome creative programme.



We are a refuge for under-resourced emerging Ugandan artists who might otherwise be silenced, helping them develop their creative voices, showing them that careers in the cultural and creative fields are open to them, and connecting them to opportunities for international collaboration, exchange, and networking that are crucial for building sustainable careers. 



We are an international resource and a part of the larger cultural community, providing artists from across the globe with the opportunity to live and work in Uganda, and to enjoy the benefits of exposure to Ugandan makers and culture. 



We are a gathering place for Ugandan and international artists to live and work alongside one another. This inspires 32° East artists to explore different practices, build invaluable networks across geographic boundaries, create art-based connections, and build solidarity



We are one of only a few national arts resources, providing the Ugandan public with rare access to imaginative and bold art that can inspire and drive long-term exploration of key issues that shape our lives and how we engage with the wider world. 







What We Do

32° East provides in-depth resources and services for artists that are not provided by any other Ugandan-based visual arts organisation. In our early years, extensive consultations with artists, curators, academics, researchers, educators, community leaders, and other Kampala-based stakeholders, as well as international counterparts and potential funders, helped us to hone in on three key areas of service: resources, training, and networking. We deliver these through: 



Residencies, which provide studio space for up to 20 Ugandan and international artists per year as they create experimental new works that push the boundaries of their current practice. Currently, we have an open call in October for Ugandan artists and, once selected and scheduled, we complete our annual calendar with international artists whose work resonates with our selected artists. Past Ugandan 32° East residents have included:  Ian Mwesiga, Stacey Gillian Abe, Immy Mali and NYC-based artist Babirye Leilah to name just a few. Additionally, past international artists have included Othello De'souza Hartley, a British photographer interested in working with Ugandan bark cloth, Gael Kusakusa Maski, a multi-media artist from the DRC exploring the politics of migration in the Great Lakes Regions, and a multidisciplinary artist Sunoj D from India, who hosted a series of workshops around sculptural installations and land



Library and Resource Centre, which includes catalogues, books, magazines, journals, films, and a digital library as well as equipment that artists can use for applications and research;



Teach-ins, an alternative education programme that looks at practices of solidarity and world building, in partnership with Arts Collaboratory, a network of arts and culture organisations rooted in the Global South;



Toolkits, available for free on our website, that guide artists through writing artist statements, writing for applications, and generally communicating about what they do and why;



Public Events and Workshops, at which speakers engage intellectually and artistically with the arts community; and



KLA ART, Kampala’s free city-wide contemporary art festival that brings art into the public realm. At the heart of the biennial festival is newly commissioned work and a programme that is accessible to a non-traditional arts audience. 2024’s edition theme is Care Instructions, viewing cultural heritage through the lens of lessons for how we care for the living world.



The other major activity on the horizon is the construction of our very own purpose built arts centre. It will be a multi-disciplinary space designed with artists in mind for a context with minimal infrastructure. Thanks to a grant from Stichting DOEN and The African Arts Trust we were able to purchase a plot of land and since 2016 have been working with James Hampton, a London based architect who specialises in sustainable architecture and developed architectural designs pro-bono. The centre will comprise of the following: 



A new event space for artist workshops, talks and presentations.

Six artists’ studios. Three for our residency programme and three to be rented out to local artists to create a sense of community and generate income for the organisation.



A purpose-designed learning centre and library



This will house 32° East’s expanding art library. It will also offer free computers with internet access and an editing suite for digital artists, filmmakers and sound designers. The improved offerings of the library will enable us to have tiered membership. 



Accommodation for visiting artists :Over the years of hosting international artists we have lost out on income for accommodation that we have to spend at nearby hotels. With our accommodation we will be able to host visiting artists/researchers/interns/workshop facilitators on our on premises and receive the funds they would have spent elsewhere. When we are not hosting guests from our programmes, the accommodation will be available to book, bringing in steady income. 



Art Café : We will build a cafe that we will rent out to a tenant that is aligned with our values and open to collaboration. This would bring in guaranteed income every month, as well as increase foot-traffic and widen our reach. 



Art Shop : This would also be a shop that we would rent out for additional revenue. The shop would provide high-quality materials to artists in Uganda, meeting a need as several artists currently ship materials from Kenya, or can only access lower-quality materials locally and often have to go to more than one source.



The centre is also designed with considerations of economic sustainability. In a context where financial support for the arts is few and far between we also wanted to have components of the centre that were income generating, without swaying from our mission. These offerings will contribute c. $30,000 per year. In  in March 2023, we unveiled Phase I (4 artists studios and a multi-purpose workspace. ) at a three-day celebration that welcomed 300+ people to our home. Phase II (two more studios, four bedrooms, gallery, workshop space, digital editing suite, and shops including one shop specialising in art supplies) is projected to be complete by 2026. Phase II will deliver a regular programme of residencies, workshops, exhibitions and events, as well as income generating features such as shops and studios for lease, providing revenue while expanding artist services. We will be able to host up to 24 artist residencies a year, collaborate with over 100 artists a year through workshops, and provide a safe and nurturing space for artists, especially those from marginalised/persecuted communities. 

32° East 

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