Resourcefulness Beyond Institutional Dependency

Innovating with limited resources has become second nature within Uganda’s creative community. Yet this resilience must extend beyond how we make art to how we market, position, and sustain it. These reflections shaped our recent printmaking workshop facilitated by mixed media artist, curator, and cultural practitioner Kajebe Jacob Joshua.

Kajebe approaches art as a social practice. For him, exhibitions and creative spaces function as community-rooted infrastructures for care, knowledge exchange, and cultural continuity. Through research-driven and collaborative methods, he engages inherited knowledge systems and material culture to question creative labour, sustainability, and local cultural economies. He positions art not as a distant or elite pursuit, but as an active contributor to social wellbeing and resilient cultural life.

A recurring thread throughout the four-plus-hour session was his challenge to the association of “brokenness” with artists. Too often, artistic identity is equated with hardship and financial instability. Kajebe instead insists that art must also be economically grounded. Sustainability, he emphasises, applies not only to the materials we use, but also to our livelihoods.

A Recap of Our Printmaking Workshop

Many artists pass through formal institutions – including Margaret Trowell, the country’s pioneering centre for formal art training – hearing stories of lecturers whose careers were transformed overnight by a collector who bought out their studio. Long after graduation, the “big break” mindset lingers. Yet the contrast between the resources of institutional studios and the harsh reality of creating without the financial means for paint, materials, or even framing is staggering.

Drawing on his experience as a curator and gallery manager, Kajebe reflected on the difficulties of sustaining a career in art, observing that both emerging and established practitioners – even those with collectors and patrons – struggle to navigate sales, visibility, and stability. He encouraged participants to consider the balance between artistic integrity and financial viability, asking: How can our work translate into income? How can we finance production sustainably? How do we stand out in saturated craft markets? Where does inspiration come from? Where does one even begin?

To answer these questions, Kajebe looks back, beyond institutional definitions of art and colonial ideals, to what art meant in our cultural contexts. He notes how craftsmanship has often been devalued in formal art training, yet art surrounds us in everyday life: woven mats, carved stools, baskets, walking sticks. These objects are functional, aesthetic, and culturally embedded. Contrary to assumptions within some art spaces, our communities value art deeply, especially when it serves a purpose.

Creativity, he suggests, is also social capital. The guiding question becomes: How can your creativity serve others?

Kajebe’s own journey reflects this philosophy. Out of necessity, he started a small business that later grew into Looks Fashion 256. Learning to value and price his work appropriately was part of that evolution. So was adapting to people’s needs at different moments. As his practice developed, he standardised prints, built collections, expanded his colour palette beyond black, and continued using improvised paper stencils. His growth demonstrates that resourcefulness, consistency, and responsiveness can build sustainable creative enterprises. It is from this lived experience that Kajebe teaches, particularly working with underprivileged youth. His approach equips them with practical, accessible methods of art-making while foregrounding the economics of practice.

He demystifies printmaking entirely. At its core, he explains, printmaking is simply the ability to replicate the same thing. Despite its reputation as complex, he describes it as one of the easiest art forms because it involves making and repeating marks.

The workshop unfolded as a hands-on exploration of this idea

We began with paper stencil printing. Using masking tape layered over sugar paper, participants sketched their initials, cut them out, and applied acrylic paint, dabbing it with sponges, over the stencils onto cotton fabric. From there, we moved into surface printing with translucent polythene sheets. Participants traced and painted images, then transferred them onto fabric; learning the importance of creating images in reverse so that they would mirror correctly when printed.

Experimentation expanded as we incorporated natural textures from the flora around Lily Gardens, producing an exciting range of organic shapes and layered colour effects. Different combinations and quantities of paint brought unexpected and vibrant results.

Relief printing followed, using unconventional materials such as kavera to create patterns. Participants also drew directly into the ink spread on a plexiglass board before pressing the printing material onto them, producing intricate and pleasing textures.

The final technique explored was wax resist printing. Melted candle wax was applied onto fabric using sponges to draw patterns. The fabrics were then dipped into a mixture of hydros, caustic soda, dye, and warm water before being rinsed to reveal striking resist effects. The process sparked numerous ideas among participants.

At the close of the workshop, we were delighted to take a special visit to Dr. Lilian Mary Nabulime’s gallery located within Lily Gardens, which she generously opened to host our session. Participants engaged directly with her work and enjoyed enriching conversations about creativity, technique, and cultural practice. We are deeply grateful for her hospitality and thoughtful engagement.

The workshop remained grounded in experimentation, play, and accessibility. Old clothes, fabric scraps, and even bark cloth became surfaces for exploration. What emerged was not only a set of techniques, but a shift in thinking – a reminder that art does not depend solely on institutional validation or expensive materials. It can grow from what is available, from community knowledge, and from a willingness to experiment.

We look forward to seeing how participants apply their newly acquired skills and ignited ideas.

The exploration continues. Watch out for more workshops and follow our social media platforms for scenes from the day.

Kajebe Jacob Joshua

Mixed Media Artist, Curator

Co-Founder Muundo Foundation

Gallery Manager, Xenson Artspace

Kajebe Jacob Joshua is a Ugandan curator and cultural practitioner whose research-driven, participatory practice reimagines exhibitions as socially embedded spaces for care, learning, and community engagement. Working with inherited knowledge systems, material culture, and collaborative processes, he foregrounds making, labour, and collective authorship while critically addressing creative labour, access, and sustainability. His work positions art as culturally accountable and economically grounded, contributing to wellbeing, local creative economies, and resilient cultural systems beyond institutional dependency.

Dr. Lilian M. Nabulime

Master Sculptor

Founder L.M Nabulime Foundation

Dr. Lilian M. Nabulime, is a Senior Lecturer and former Head of the Sculpture Department in the School of Industrial and Fine Arts (CEDAT) at Makerere University in Kampala. She was taught by one of Uganda’s greatest sculptors, Francis Nnaggenda. Nabulime earned a Ph.D. in Fine Art from Newcastle University in 2007. Her research focused on sculptural forms as a tool of communication for women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Through her work, Nabulime attempts to push the meaning of art beyond its visual quality to raise awareness about issues facing society and promote discussion among viewers. Nabulime has been awarded numerous fellowships throughout her career and has exhibited in both solo and group shows around the world. Her most recent commission by SOAS University of London seeks to raise awareness about the risks and responses to schistosomiasis in Uganda and other communities in the Great Lakes Region.