Suubi’s ‘Nalongo’ takes centre stage at Obulo Bwaffe festival/exhibition

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Sandra Suubi refused a microphone, and for long periods did not say anything. But her gown-like outfit made of woven mats and bark cloth became the centre of attention as the Obulo Bwaffe art festival was launched at the Alliance Française basement on Women’s Day.

Suubi, also a musician, was a featured performer at the launch, along with a singer (Afrie) and two spoken-word artists (Zoe and Afroetry). But when her turn came around she adorned the almost 7-foot-tall outfit, stood on a chair, and dared the audience to make of it what they would.

She called the whole ensemble (which included herself) Nalongo, which pointed to the mother of the twins in the folk song Twelire Obulo Bwaffe, from which the festival got its name. The song tells of twin girls Nakato and Babirye who are told by their mother to chase away birds who would eat millet put out to dry, it being a time of famine. But the birds instead insist that they have a right to eat the millet.

But nobody in the song talks of Nalongo, the mother of the twins; which to Suubi symbolised the fate of many women, who are often ignored and taken for granted.

To Martha Kazungu, a curator and founder of the Njabala Foundation which organised the festival, the birds insisting on eating the millet as their right is symbolic of society’s patronising and exploitative attitude towards women.

“We are looking at the Obulo Bwaffe folklore through a contemporary feminist lens”, Kazungu said. “We are celebrating the power, knowledge and unwavering agency of women.”

Carolyne 'Afroetry' Acen performs at the opening ceremony of the Obulo Bwaffe Art festival at Allaince Francaise. (PHOTO BY KALUNGI KABUYE)

Caroline ‘Afroetry’ Acen has grown a reputation for saying the ‘unsayable’, daring to publicly address issues that make even fellow women uncomfortable. So it was obvious many in the audience were not quite sure of what to do when she took the stage, it was only when she was finished that they let out a loud cheer which should have come much earlier. Her going from one poem to another without a breath probably had something to do with it. But admittedly she should be more celebrated than she currently is.

Obulo Bwaffe is the fourth Annual Njabala Exhibition, all held around International Women’s Day and all taking themes from Buganda folklore about the lot of women in traditional society. The first was Njabala This is not how (2022), the Njabala Holding Space (2023) and Njabala an Elegy (2024), all showcasing the work of women artists from Uganda and beyond.

This year’s exhibition is taking place in two places, Xenson Art Space in Kamwokya and Afropocene in Kabalagala. Featured artists are Evelyn Bageire, Diana Bwengye, Pamela Enyonu, Kashushu, Anna Marie Nabirye and Sheila Nakitende. The exhibition will run till March 31, 2025.

Along with the art exhibition, the festival included a panel discussion on curating held at the Alliance Française. There was also an ‘Ayeyi Performance’ by Amaka Obioma at Nyungu Yamawe Forest Park in Kira; and several presentations and discussions by international figures in the art world, including Prof Dr Bonaventure Ndikung from Cameroon and Dr Kate Cowcher from Scotland.