SEND ME

Borderlands Art is delighted to present works from the SEND ME exhibition. 

Following the idea that insecurity is not new, the exhibition took a historical and contemporary look at artistic freedom. It traced different eras of political repression in Uganda and East Africa more broadly, by recognising the ongoing migration of people and ideas.

The space of artistic production and display reflected on the urge to leave, the imperative to return, the experience of exile. As a metaphorical place to set this exploration, Transition Magazine was the host. It provided the framework to explore
how some issues of freedom and liberation become resolved through movement and time, while others may endure. 

Artists, Gloria Kiconco, Charity Atukunda, and Elsadig Janka came together to reflect on the movement of ideas, the questions of security and the biographies of place. Their works move between deeply intimate storytelling and geopolitical critique. 

Medium : Mixed Medium Works

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Cardinal Directions
Gloria Kiconco 

Sculptural zines on barkcloth, 2024 – Some stay, some leave, some are forced out, some give up and others slip into the background. This series of artworks
reflects on the relationships between time, place and text. Each form reveals a different set of concerns, all within the format of a zine-as-sculpture. Experiencing sculpture as a form of dialogue also makes space for light, proximity and openness that is compressed in the 2D print features.

A House Away From Home 
Elsadig Mohamed ‘Janka’

Photography, 2024 – A face in a frame is perhaps all it takes to describe the notion of belonging. Personal
items and materials brought by individuals from Sudan to their new settlement in Kampala, Uganda signify life in between: a Sudanese women’s thobe, first aid kit, guitar picks, crochet threads, shoes. However, during the making  of this
photographic series, Sadig and Amar learned that materialism will not help in re-creating a house away from home, because the items needed to build a house outside the home are perceptions, imaginations, creativity and emotions.

Fashioning Freedom
Charity Atukunda

Illustration print on textile, 2024 – There is a dance between the grassroots and the elites in
which some kneel in reverence and others stand up. Yet there is no marching in protest. Atukunda recognises the more subtle and embodied acts of resistance that begin with the self as well as the digital pathways for solidarity.

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This exhibition is part of the multi sited Routes of Resistance exhibition presented by the Safe Havens|Freedom Talks organisation with funding from the Swedish Postcode Foundation. This multi-country collaboration seeks to pay homage to our different contexts, divergent paths, diverse methodologies, and multiple languages.