rose-kirumira KIRUMIRA ROSE NAMUBIRU is a Senior Lecturer at the  School of Industrial and Fine Arts, Makerere University (1987-2011) where she also graduated with a PhD (Makerere University) on “The Formation of Contemporary Visual Artists in Africa: Revisiting Residency Programmes”. Her main engagement over the years was attending numerous artist’s workshops and residencies in Africa and around the world where she obtained experiences about contemporary visual art and artists’ practices. These varied professional experiences accorded her the opportunity to have an insight of artist’s networks within and outside of Uganda. Professionally, she is one of the few widely recognized and well exhibited female sculptors in Uganda. She has participated in various exhibitions namely “Different But One”, at Makerere University Art Gallery since 1998; Annual Group exhibitions of “Women on the Move” up to 2000; “Artist of the Millennium” exhibition at Makerere and Nommo Gallery, 2000. She also made outstanding public monuments and projects such as the sculptures for the Don Bosco Vocational School Chapel, Kamuli, 1997, and among numerous others had exhibitions such as “Faces” 1996 and “Personalities” 2010 at Tulifanya Art Gallery, Kampala. However her strength is making monumental sculptures for example working under the renowned Prof. Francis Naggenda to make the statue of “King Ronald Mutebi” at the Buganda Parliament and “Family” at Mulago Hospital Kampala. She also made the two famous sculptures ‘Mother Uganda’ and ‘UNDP’ at the former UNDP Headquarters currently National Planning Authority house, Clement Hill Road. Dr. Kirumira’s professional life as an artist has been significantly international in creating several monumental sculptures around the world, most noteworthy being “The Page”, Winnipeg Canada 1995; “Ambassador”, USA 1999, ‘Omumbejja” in Denmark between 1997-2010 and “Friendship” Changchun, China 2000. Her sculpture has evolved around traditional visual art skills, techniques and knowledge incorporating local shapes, designs and color in the work to develop a style tending towards decorative arts and crafts. Her style currently covers the use of a wide range of traditional materials, found and mixed media and formats. Her philosophy and subjects favored have been fueled by the need to make visual commentaries about changing material culture.

Academic Research, Publications and Projects

  • 2013 Book Chapter: Kirumira, Namubiru Rose and Sidney L. Kasfir (2013) “An Artist’s notes on the Triangle workshops (Zambia and South Africa)”. In: African art and Agency in the Workshop; Sidney Littlefield Kasfir and Till Forster. Eds. Bloomington Indiana University Press
  • 2013 Book Chapter: Kirumira, Namubiru Rose (2013) “Identity, Gender and Representation: Reflecting on the Sculpture ‘Mother Uganda’”. In: Re – Contextualizing Self/Other Issues in Africa: The Practice of a Conference; V. Y. Mudimbe Eds. Africa World Press 2012
  • 2012 CHAIR, Kampala International Artists Festival 2012. KLA ART 012 (http://klaart012.org/) Festival aimed at giving an opportunity to 12 local artists to explore new and innovative ways of creating and presenting art to the public. Twelve artists were able to exhibit in twelve containers at twelve sites in Kampala, 7 – 14 October 2012.
  • 2011 Master of Art (Fine Art) Programme Review: – “Dwindling Applicants and Poor Retention Rate of Admitted Master of Art (Fine Art) students”, Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art
  • 2010 PhD Art Education (Makerere University) “The Formation of Contemporary Visual Artists in Africa: Revisiting Residency Programmes”. It set out to establish the value of artist’s residence programmes as a formation strategy in the development of versatile contemporary African visual artists and elucidate the question whether the residencies contribute to the significant number of versatile contemporary African visual artists.
  • 2010 Research Project: “Visual Art Skills and Activities Towards Enhancing Teaching How to Begin Reading and Writing of Early Childhood Education in Uganda”, Nkumba University.
  • 2005 Research Project: Teacher’s Manual “Write A Story” For Rockefeller Foundation Project Increasing Retention Through Improved Literacy and Learner Friendly Primary Schools in Uganda; Makerere University Institute of Social Research
  • 2005 Research Project: 8 Teachers’ Booklets “An approach(es) to Teaching Beginners of Reading and Writing at Lower Primary School in Uganda” For Rockefeller Foundation Project Increasing Retention Through Improved Literacy and Learner Friendly Primary Schools in Uganda; Makerere University Institute of Social Research
  • 2005 Research Project: “35 Illustrated Children’s Stories” Makerere University/ Rockefeller Foundation project to 450 Primary Schools in Uganda
  • 2003 Research Project: “A Model for an Indigenous Ceramic Ware Cottage Industry”. At Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art; Makerere University/ Japan AICAD Project

National Exhibitions, Conferences and Workshops

2010 Exhibition “Personalities” Tulifanya Art Gallery, Kampala
1996 – 2013 Annual Lecturers exhibitions “Different But One”, Makerere University Art Gallery
1995/2000 5 Annual Group exhibitions: “Women on the Move”, Beijing Conference, and “Artist of the Millennium” Makerere and Nommo Gallery.
1997 Sculptures for Don Bosco Vocational School Chapel, Kamuli.
1997 Civil Aviation Authority 2ndAward for Entebbe International Airport
1996 “Faces” Exhibition, Tulifanya Art Gallery, Kampala
1994 Monumental Sculptures of “King Ronald Mutebi” and “Family” Makerere University

International Exhibitions, Conferences and Workshops

2008 Conference, Selam African Festival, Dieselverkstaden in Stockholm
1997-2010 3 Denmark, International Wood Sculpture Workshops/Symposiums in Hojer andBlokhus and Ondesse
2003 Amsterdam, Netherlands Artist in Residency and exhibition “Here and now”
2002 Changchun, China, Sculptors Symposium and Bronze Sculpture “Bowl of Friendship”. 1998 De Anza College, California U.S.A. Fulbright Scholar, made commissioned Concrete Sculpture (8×6’) by De Anza/Foothill Community.
1995 Winnipeg, Canada, Paper “Women and the Arts in Uganda”. Visiting Artist: In “ Girls Today, Women Tomorrow” Exhibition “Rise with the Sun” Exhibition of Women & Africa
1995/08 Artists’ Workshops: Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa

 

Name: Kirumira Rose Namubiru
Date of Birth: 28th October 1962
Nationality: Ugandan
Address: The Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts (Mtsifa)
Department of Industrial Art and Applied Design,
Makerere University
P.O. Box 7062
Tel: 256-41-531423, 075652255
Fax: 256-41-346262
Email: kirunamrf@gmail.com, kirunam@cedat.mak.ac.ug
Web: www.rosekirumira.net

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