This art history study critically analyzes interactions between human individuals and objects located at the Mubende Hill cultural site in Uganda. More specifically, it provides an in-depth analysis of the ways the Balyammere1 relate to and engage with objects employed in ritual performances at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, located 3.5 kilometers off the Kampala-Fort Portal Road. There are specific rituals performed at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. These rituals occur at and around a sacred tree, known in this research as the Omweyimirize tree. The Balyammere regard the Omweyimirize tree with high esteem, considering it a vital symbol of their spiritual and ritual practices. The study challenges the conventional views inherited by a colonial and Eurocentric approach to the study of ritual objects within the context of Africa broadly and Uganda more specifically. This conventional approach tends to separate ritual objects from the situations and contexts in which they are used, placing them within Museums and spaces that decontextualize them. I argue that the depth and richness of these objects cannot be fully understood if they are separated from their performative contexts and that they acquire meaning and significance when they are used for their intended purposes. For this reason, the study poses the question: How do the ritual objects at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill constitute and communicate meaning through their use in performance, emphasizing their inseparable connection to their contexts of performance and embodied interactions within this spiritual space?
Over the years, thousands of individuals have flocked to the spiritual space of Mubende Hill in Uganda, which is home to the Omweyimirize tree, to perform rituals through ritual and spiritual objects and connect with them to enhance their ritual and spiritual wellness. The performances are carried out daily, according to the current Local Council 1 Chairman, Fred Sebatta,2 and usually they serve three purposes: firstly, for enlightenment about today, tomorrow, and the future, and for intercession and guidance; secondly, for prayer, deliverance, and healing; and thirdly, for spiritual power, treatment, and tourism.
The primary aim of the study is to explore the connection and interaction the Balyammere have with sacred objects and performances within the spiritual realm of Mubende Hill, as they seek healing and wellness of a spiritual nature. The ritual and spiritual objects that the Balyammere interact with include the Omweyimirize tree, clay pots (small and big), clay bowls, calabashes, Bachwezi cups,3 cloths, and coffee beans. Through an in-depth analysis of the ways through which people engage with ritual objects and their related spiritual and ritual performances, the book argues that the ritual and spiritual objects and their respective practices gain meaning when used within their practices; hence, meaning is flattened when they are separated. The rituals and spiritual objects associated with the Omweyimirize tree are a manifestation of the Bachwezi people’s belief system, which connects them to their ancestors and serves as an avenue for people to access their spiritual health.
This connection with their ancestors serves as a basis for understanding why people seek out and engage with the Omweyimirize tree for ritual and spiritual purposes. The study also analyzes how the Balyammere relate to ritual and spiritual objects in their daily lives, as well as how they interpret and contextualize the performances of ritual and spiritual activities about the Omweyimirize tree. The Omweyimirize tree represents an ancient cultural tradition of the Bachwezi people, and its importance is evident in how it is passed down from generation to generation. I argue that the tree and its associated object-ritual and spiritual performances cannot be fully appreciated unless the contexts in which they are practiced are considered for meaning-making.
While ritual and spiritual objects and their performances at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill remain the primary focus of the study, it also examines how select contemporary Ugandan artists expand their artistic practices and tell Indigenous stories through their work by engaging with/referencing objects related to the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. The artworks of Emmanuel Eroku, Xenson Ssenkaaba, Donald Nantagya, Lilian Mary Nabulime, and Rose Namubiru Kirumira are analyzed in relation to the artworks of the 2019 art history students from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts to comprehend how these artists have engaged with and reimagined similar objects in contemporary contexts to generate more complex meanings in contrast to problematically flattened meanings. In doing so, the study suggests a need for new art histories that are decolonial, that delink from Global North perspectives, and that place Africa-based artists and researchers at the forefront of the creation of knowledge about Africa (Simbao 2017; Simbao et al. 2017).
The book also investigates the ideology behind the placement of ritual objects in museums, with reference to the Uganda Museum, where archaeologist Eric Christopher Lanning (1953) recontextualized vessels and beakers from the spiritual space of Mubende Hill to the Uganda Museum. By scrutinizing the rationale of exhibiting the above objects, including the Nakayima diorama, I draw parallels between the treatment of objects as either inanimate or animate, exemplified by clay pots, bowls, calabashes, and Queen Muhumuza’s attire, within Mubende Hill’s spiritual setting and the museum environment. This comparison aims to comprehend the meanings of these objects in both contexts. Therefore, the book explores how different people assign different meanings to the same/similar objects in different contexts. The book further analyzes the recent debates over the return of ritual objects from Global North museums to their locations in Africa. Chapter 4 examines in depth how people engage with ritual objects in their ritual and spiritual performances. Through examination of how these objects are enacted within the present context of the spiritual realm of Mubende Hill, I contextualize Balyammere narratives about objects and their contribution to knowledge generation through ritual and spiritual practices. This act does not delink objects from their performances.
This study in art history examines how ritual objects at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill in Uganda are involved in and shape performances for ritual and spiritual healing. I argue that objects cannot be understood separately from their performative contexts, but rather as integral parts of the dynamic and embodied interactions that constitute their spiritual spaces. The study calls for new art histories that challenge colonial narratives, that break away from Global North views, and prioritize Africa-based artists and researchers as the main producers of knowledge about Africa (Simbao 2017; Simbao et al. 2017). The objectives of the study are:
I create Indigenous stories and textual narratives that intertwine with images of ritual objects, aiming to connect the objects to their original contexts. This approach ensures that the analysis of these objects remains rooted in their performative uses without severing that connection.
This literature review examines how colonialism and Eurocentric views have imparted the understanding of African ritual objects, particularly in Uganda. It emphasizes the loss of cultural heritage and the need to decolonize knowledge, research, and educational institutions, thereby prioritizing African scholars as pioneers in the production of knowledge. Focusing on the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, the need for reading ritual objects within their performative cultural and spiritual contexts is expressed.
The colonial and Eurocentric conventional approach to ritual objects is connected to the colonization of Africa and the extraction of knowledge, objects, and resources from their Indigenous cultural, social, and spiritual contexts. This approach has led to the loss of cultural heritage and misinterpretation of African cultures within art history studies (Ogbechie 2005: 65) and within research approaches (Smith 1999: 20). Lanning, for instance, removed some ritual objects he obtained from the Omweyimirize tree and placed them into the Uganda Museum (1953). Additionally, in a report titled “A Modern Masterpiece in Uganda: Uganda National Museum Conservation Management Plan Keeping it Modern, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities of the Republic of Uganda,” Ssebunya and Eppich (2021: 13) cite Sir Harry Johnston, who instructed the collection of ethnographic objects from different regions of Uganda, as a key figure in the establishment of the museum. The explicit intentions behind the collection and relocation of objects by Lanning and Johnston remain ambiguous. Lanning’s photographic documentation caption, “Vessels and Beakers from Mubende Hill, Uganda,” suggests a displacement for reconstruction purposes. While I criticize Lanning’s decision to relocate the vessels and beakers from Mubende Hill to the Uganda Museum, which changed their original context, I recognize that this action significantly contributed to raising public awareness about these objects. It was in the Uganda Museum that I first encountered these objects. This encounter in the museum provided me with the opportunity to engage with the objects and their history, thus acting as a point of departure for my study.4 I argue that the meaning of the above-relocated objects is better understood within the context of ritual and spiritual practices at the Mubende Hill and not within the Uganda Museum.
During face-to-face interviews on 12 August 2023 and 20 August 2023, at the Uganda Museum, archivist Alice Nanyombi and curator Nelson Abiti Adebo provided divergent perspectives. Nanyombi clarified that the objects Lanning decontextualized were for historicization, while Abiti asserted they were intended for preservation for future generations. In a broader context, Nur Sevencan (2016) offers a general viewpoint on museum object exhibition, emphasizing that objects are often collected based on the notions of “visual interest and the desire for rational knowledge.” Ritual objects are often decontextualized when they are removed from their cultural, social, and religious contexts and presented as aesthetic or historical objects within museums. Scholars have criticized the decontextualization of these objects in museums. For instance, Ogbechie (2005: 62) uses the example of Mbari, a ritual complex of the Owerri-Igbo people in Nigeria, to show how museum collections and archives “fossilize” objects and their cultural practice and meaning, while ignoring their contemporary transformations and adaptations. Ogbechie argues that Mbari is not a static or fixed form of art, but a “gestur[al] mode whose structure and efficacy lies in its relationship to the user’s affective speech” responding to historical circumstances and social needs (2005: 67). Achille Mbembe (2001) highlights the power dynamics regarding ritual objects and colonialism. Mbembe suggests that this process of decontextualization serves to reinforce the dominance of the colonizing culture over the colonized and perpetuates a narrative of cultural superiority (2001: 2). Mbembe further argues that the decontextualization of ritual objects in museums perpetuates a colonial mindset and reinforces the power dynamics of the colonial past. Ciraj Rassool, in addition, discusses the epistemic work of decolonization and restitution in relation to museums within the context of South Africa. In reference to the District Six Museum in Cape Town, Rassool (2006: 9) argues:
Making the District Six Museum in Cape Town serves as a powerful tool for remembering and confronting the injustices of apartheid within the histories of District Six, the experiences of forced removal, and with memory and cultural expression as resources for solidarity and restitution … through visual documentation … Through being more provocative and undermining convention, as a direct consequence of criticism and questioning, the Museum boldly and deliberately recreated its “live, generative space”, ensuring that it refused to become an object, to be consumed, merely looked at and left behind untouched …
In the above citation, Rassool describes some of the ways in which the District Six Museum actively resists the kind of fossilization and decontextualization of objects that often occurs in the process of museumification. This is done by using personal stories, visual documentation, and creating an interactive space, ensuring that the history it presents is not detached from its context or passively consumed. Rassool (2006), Ogbechie (2005), and Mbembe (2018) question the validity of museum collections as sources for knowledge production and advocate for the decolonization and restitution of objects. This perspective considers notions of history, power dynamics, and communities in the context of museums. The assertions made by Ogbechie (2005), Mbembe (2018), and Rassool (2006) are relevant to museums in a Ugandan setting, including the Uganda Museum; aligning with the above scholars’ perspectives on decontextualized museums, this study contends that the removal and display of objects from the Mubende Hill spiritual space disconnect these ritual objects from their original ritual and spiritual contexts.
Several scholars justify the importance of reading objects in relation to how they are performed within cultural, social, and religious contexts. For instance, theologian Aloysius Muzzanganda Lugira (2009: 74) notes that ritual objects make ritual acts of prayer, music, and dance efficacious through celebration, healing, and connecting with the divine during important community gatherings. Similarly, the philosopher and theologian John Samuel Mbiti (2015: 143) notes that ritual objects hold the beliefs and values that make rituals powerful and meaningful, hence giving rituals their ultimate purpose during ceremonies. Both Lugira (2009) and Mbiti (2015) suggest the interrelatedness between ritual objects and their performances in connecting both the human and spiritual realms within the broader contexts of spirituality in African cultures. John Roscoe, a missionary and anthropologist, offers a more specific perspective on ritual objects and performance regarding Baganda spirituality. He asserts that the Baganda believe that ritual objects have supernatural powers, hence treating them with utmost respect and reverence. Roscoe suggests that the Baganda view ritual objects as active supernatural power agents that influence their performances of and within religious rites and ceremonies (1911: 326).
In her book African Vodun, Art, Psychology, and Power, Suzanne Preston Blier (1995: 2) analyzes the artistic expressions and cultural meanings of Vodun, a religion and worldview that originated in West Africa and spread to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. Blier places emphasis on the performative aspects of African art and how objects are not static but actively involved in rituals, ceremonies, and cultural performances. Blier emphasizes the dynamic relationship between objects, the human body, and the environment, emphasizing how these elements interact in various rituals and performances. She also notes the importance of engaging with objects in the contexts where they are made and used, including their use in rituals. Her work contributes to a deeper understanding of the performative dimensions of African art, challenging Western-centric perspectives and highlighting the cultural richness and complexity of artistic practices in Africa.
In relation to the Tiv people of Nigeria, art historian Robert Farris Thompson describes the way in which objects are brought to life through dance. He clarifies that an individual has the ability to set a top in motion or artistically twirl a cutlass, stating that “dance” in this context extends beyond the human body. Thompson further affirms this expansive view of dance, common in sub-Saharan Africa, where dance is not confined to the human form but, in specific settings, can incorporate objects, imparting autonomy to them within artistic expressions, intensifying the vitality required for an image to function as a work of art. Thompson describes the history of the arts of Africa as “a history of danced art,” highlighting the significant connection that exists between objects and movement (1979: xiii). In addition, Thompson argues that the Yoruba people preserved their cultural identity through music, dance, religion, and art in the face of the transatlantic slave trade. He claims that Yoruba culture gave them a way to understand and overcome the forces that threatened to destroy them. He sees the Yoruba diaspora as a sign of their collective resilience and willpower.
Art historian Ruth Simbao (2006: 27) adds to the above discussion by analyzing the relationship between objects and performances specifically through the lens of Africa within a Zambian context. She examines the meanings that are embedded in the complex relationships of the Luba-Lunda and Lunda-Kazembe crowns of north-eastern Zambia used during royalty ceremonies. Simbao argues that the meanings of the various crowns rest within how they are made and used with regard to materiality and assemblage through time and space in and out of relationships during the Mutomboko ceremony. This study reflects on the concept of art histories that do not separate objects from their performances and prioritize African scholars in knowledge production (Simbao et al. 2017: 13–14). Prominent within African art history discourse is Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie’s argument concerning the dynamism and agency of objects, in his article “The Historical Life of Objects: African Art History and the Problem of Discursive Obsolescence” (2005). Ogbechie (2005: 63) disrupts conventional methods of analyzing and categorizing Objects and their meanings within diverse collections, prompting a reconsideration of our current comprehension of objects, proposing a perspective that views them as “historical agents” possessing agency and enduring influence over time. He uses the case of Mbari architecture among the Owerri-Igbo of Nigeria, suggesting that these ritual objects were involved in a gestural form of cultural practice in response to historical changes and contingencies. Ogbechie challenges the idea of objects being static representations of culture (2005: 67).
The ideologies surrounding objects connected to context and performance have been made based on scholarly disciplines (theology, philosophy, and art history) and geographical contexts (America, West Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa), as highlighted above. Nevertheless, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on Uganda, particularly concerning the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, except Emmanuel Eroku’s Master of Arts in Fine Art (MAFA) dissertation in 2019. Eroku undertakes the decolonization of Nakayima (Figure 0.1), overturning her colonial depiction as a wicked goddess through the portrayal of her in a range of diverse artistic representations inspired by the Nakayima tree (Figure 3.1) at the sacred site on Mubende Hill and the Nakayima diorama (Figure 1.3) in the Uganda Museum.
Figure 0.1 Eroku Emmanuel, Nakayima Garment of Activism II, 2018. Binding wire, aluminum foil, synthetic hair, cotton cloth, and barkcloth pattern print. © Eroku Emmanuel.
In his work, Eroku presents these pieces as a means of reimagining Nakayima’s power and identity, utilizing art as a tool to reclaim his narrative. While Eroku’s thesis covers elements of the Mubende sacred site and Nakayima diorama, akin to those explored in this study, there are some distinctions. Eroku expresses this through artistic representations, whereas this art history study takes a different approach. It interprets the same elements as Eroku but utilizes oral history to narrate the interactions between Balyammere, Catherine Nabukeera (Omweyimirize Maama Nakayima’s spirit medium), and the spirits (Omweyimirize Maama Nakayima, Ndawula, Bassaalongo, and Bannaalongo) concerning object-ritual and spiritual performances, conveyed through oral traditional stories. This emphasis on the use of oral tradition aligns with the need to decolonize research and knowledge production within the Global South.
Scholars such as Boaventura de Sousa Santos, a law and sociology professor, have discussed the need to decolonize knowledge globally. De Sousa Santos (2007: 45), as per the Fernand Braudel Center review, critiques the Western-centric model of modernity, labeling it “abyssal thinking.” This concept establishes a stark division between metropolitan and colonial societies, effectively excluding the latter from the sphere of knowledge (2007: 46). He proposes an alternative paradigm called the “ecology of pieces of knowledge,” which aims to foster dialogue and solidarity among various forms of knowledge, especially those originating from oppressed and marginalized groups (2007: 67).
Walter Mignolo, a decolonial scholar, critiques the hegemony of Western knowledge systems and advocates for the recognition and legitimation of other forms of knowledge production. In his publication “The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options,” he argues that the modern/colonial world system has produced a global order that marginalizes and dehumanizes non-Western peoples and epistemologies (Mignolo 2011: xxiv). Mignolo proposes the decolonization of knowledge as a way of challenging the Eurocentric assumptions and structures that shape the production and validation of knowledge (2011: 82). He defines decolonization as the process of “delinking from the colonial matrix of power” and as epistemic disobedience, breaking the rules imposed by the rhetoric of modernity (2011: 119). He suggests decolonial thinking based on the two pillars of geopolitical epistemology and biographic political epistemology (2011: 118). In her 1999 work, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, a Māori scholar in the fields of education and Indigenous studies, emphasizes the importance of decolonization within research methodologies. Smith critiques the colonial legacy of Global Northern research, which has been used as a tool to exploit, oppress, and erase the Indigenous peoples, their history, and cultures (1999: 21). She advocates for a deconstruction of research methods, which entails reclaiming, reformulating, and reconstituting Indigenous modes of knowing, doing, and being, as well as conducting cooperative and respectful research with Indigenous communities (1999: 128). For Smith, decolonizing knowledge means “empowering” Indigenous peoples (1999: 177).
Taking educational institutions created by the colonial masters as the point of departure, Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan academic, advocates for the need to decolonize universities. Mamdani argues that African universities were created by colonial powers to control and reshape African society. These universities were not built to serve local needs but to spread European ideas and values as part of the bigger plan to civilize Africans, making them more like Europeans, rather than to support African ideologies or culture. Mamdani undermines the top-down modernist agenda from the inside, by performing a series of actions that examine the historical heritage, rejecting some aspects and modifying others (2019: 51).5 Kenyan writer and literary critic, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1986: 4) supports the decolonization of academic literature and languages within universities by noting that continuing to use colonial languages such as English and French in academia keeps African minds tied to colonial ways of thinking.6 Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, the Congolese philosopher and writer, advocates for decolonizing one of the languages (namely art) used within African academic institutions as a means of communication. Mudimbe (1988: 19) critiques the Global North narratives that have enforced a colonial epistemic system that has excluded and silenced African ways of knowing and being.7 He further suggests a different approach that is based on a critical dialogue between African and Global North traditions, and that acknowledges the diversity and complexity of African realities (1988: 36).
Mudimbe’s claim regarding the problematic Global North discourse on African art (1988: 19) relates to the need to decolonize art history and education within a Ugandan context; a concept that has received more attention in the field of teaching art (art education) than in the discipline of art history. Art education in Uganda was introduced by colonialists who had their motives and intentions (Kyeyune 2003: 31). Founded in 1939, the Makerere Art School holds the distinction of being the first art institution in East Africa, as well as on the African continent. The school’s initiation was led by Margaret Trowell, who had received her training at the Slade School of Fine Art at London University. Trowell’s art curriculum was built around the art of her Global North background (specifically of the Middle Ages), and to reinforce the supposed superiority of European art (2003: 59). It is important to note that even if formal art teaching was the order of the day at the Makerere Art School, Trowell was also conscious about maintaining the identity of her students, hence laying grounds for her Africanization rhetoric (2003: 77). The Makerere Art School has contributed significantly to shaping the Ugandan contemporary art scene through its graduates. Despite this, some alumni are proponents of decolonizing art education within Uganda’s curriculum. Maria Kasule Kizito, a painter and sculptor as cited by Bamuturaki Musinguzi (2019), the Ugandan Monitor newspaper editor, argued that art education in Africa needs to break free from colonial influences. Kizito believes that art is deeply connected to society and, since symbols such as flags and anthems guide people, art must reflect the real identity, history, and futures of the local community. For Kizito, decolonizing art education means making it entirely African, rooted in the people’s culture, experiences, and aspirations.
Reflective of Kizito’s call to symbolic renegotiation in pursuit of a decolonized art education is Emmanuel Eroku’s MAFA dissertation, which challenges the negative portrayal of Nakayima, a powerful Indigenous goddess and healer, who has been marginalized and demonized by colonial narratives. Eroku achieves this decolonial symbolic renegotiation through artistic representations with materials such as barkcloth, cowrie shells, and hide, all materials that were demonized by colonialists (2019: 21). In so doing, Nakayima’s power and identity are reclaimed, as is her story as a valuable part of Uganda’s cultural heritage and knowledge systems. He argues that this is necessary to revise Buganda and Uganda’s histories, re-envision precolonial women’s liberation, empowerment, and identity, and reclaim their power (2019: 22).
In an online article produced by Start Journal Contemporary Art on the African Continent titled “Decolonizing Art Education on the African Continent: Brief” for the Launch of Another Roadmap Africa Cluster8 (2015) at Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design, the author discusses the challenges and possibilities of decolonizing art education in Africa. During the launch of the cluster, the Academic Registrar at the Academy, Miss Agatha Nalumansi, clad in a gomesi,9 chose to address the audience of English literates from across the continent in her Luganda mother tongue. This could suggest that Nalumansi used Luganda and her genealogy recitation as a way of reclaiming her cultural identity, resisting the colonial legacy of language imposition and the dominance of English as the medium of instruction and discourse in art education.10 However, Nalumansi’s act provoked mixed reactions from the audience, particularly within the Indigenous community. Daudi Karungi (as cited in Decolonizing Art Education on the African Continent: Brief, 2015), Director of Kampala Art Biennale, saw it first as “absurd” and later as a “performance;” conceptual artist Henry Mzili Mujunga (as cited in Decolonizing Art Education on the African Continent: Brief, 2015) considered it “awkward;” Ugandan visual artist Eria Sane Nsubuga (as cited in Decolonizing Art Education on the African Continent: Brief, 2015) described it as “futile;” and visual artist Samson Ssenkaaba (as cited in Decolonizing Art Education on the African Continent: Brief, 2015) called it “pointless.”
The pressing need for African scholars to take a leading role in shaping knowledge becomes evident, especially as the discourse surrounding African art continues to evolve. Mbembe (2016: 95) argues that Africa is now actively shaping its own place in global art history, not as something exotic or primitive but as a powerful, modern contributor, by rejecting old ideas regarding African art and instead showing how it is part of the broader more inclusive global story by defining itself, on its own terms and with its own voice. Prioritizing the voices and perspectives of Indigenous scholars is crucial in achieving a more nuanced and authentic understanding of the contemporary art scene (Simbao 2017: 1; Simbao et al. 2017: 12). This perspective aligns with broader discussions on the decolonization of art history, emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives and voices in shaping the narrative (Butler and Hahn 2021: 2; Grant and Price 2020: 9). The Eurocentric biases entrenched in traditional histories are increasingly recognized as limiting and distorting the understanding of ethnographic practices (de Sousa Santos 2021: 21). Therefore, a shift toward Africans telling their own stories about the arts of Africa becomes not only a matter of representation but a crucial step in fostering a more accurate and inclusive interpretation of art.
Ritual objects11 and performances12 are pervasive in human history, but their meanings and functions are often elusive. Historically, theoretical scholarships regarding ritual objects, and ritual and spiritual performances emphasize the interconnectedness of ritual objects, rituals, and spiritual performances in generating meaning, aligning with the perspectives of scholars such as (Blier 1995; Eliade 1959; Lugira 2009; Mbiti 1975; Patera 2012), who argue that ritual objects are imbued with power within various ritual acts, gaining meaning through rituals. This study borrows from Blier’s argument regarding the power that lies within bocis (sculptures). Writing in relation to bocis from Nigeria, Blier emphasizes the social power that lies in these objects. She asserts that bocis were not just scary-looking or violent artworks, they were actual objects to help the Yoruba deal with tough times by responding to suffering, correcting injustices and easing emotional pain. So, rather than showing danger, the bocis, were meant to protect, comfort, and heal (Blier 1995: 27). Like the bocis sculptures, ritual objects such as clay pots, bowls, milk cups, calabashes, coffee beans, ghee, and milk at the Omweyimirize tree are imbued with power from the ninety-nine spirits at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. This power is meant for healing the Balyammere from skin ailments, reproduction, fertility, and financial issues for wellness purposes.
This emphasizes the intrinsic nature of ritual objects and their role in facilitating healing on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels (Appadurai 1986; Blier 1995; Mbiti 2015; Mokgobi 2014; Okwaro 2013; Peltzer 1998; Roscoe 1911). Moreover, the examination of the immanence of the sacred and its grounding in daily embodied spiritual performance, as emphasized by scholars such as Binder (2016), Gradle (2007), Laylo (2022), Lugira (2009), Mbiti (2015), and Tsuru (1998), underscores the importance of spiritual performances as an indicator of society’s spiritual capacity. This perspective challenges the dichotomy between the secular and sacred worlds (Gradle 2007: 1502), emphasizing the pervasive influence of spiritual performances in shaping societal attitudes and status toward art (Laylo 2022: 76). In response to Laylo’s view regarding the influence of the ritual and spiritual over art, this study contributes to the field of African art history by arguing against the separation of objects from their respective performances because the objects gain meaning when performed ritually and spiritually. This study sheds light on the cultural and historical significance of ritual objects and their role in facilitating healing, emphasizing the interconnectedness of ritual objects, rituals, and spiritual performances in generating meaning (Kaptchuk 2011: 1; Monteiro and Wall 2011: 236; Summers-Effler 2006: 135). By examining the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, this research provides insights into the intricate interplay between ritual objects and the spiritual realm, transcending the boundaries of time and place (Mokgobi 2014; Mpofu et al. 2011).
The healing role of object-ritual and spiritual performances is a key theme within African traditional healing practices and spirituality. Mokgobi challenges the common misconception that traditional medicine practitioners primarily revere ancestral spirits instead of acknowledging a supreme deity. He urges a more nuanced understanding of the complex and diverse practices of traditional African healing (2014: 1). Elias Mpofu, Karl Peltzer, and Olaniyi Bojuwoye (2011: 4) draw parallels between African civilizations and the profession of psychotherapy, emphasizing the psychological and therapeutic dimensions attached to ritual practices and performances. Lugira (2009: 66) and Mbiti (1990: 43) assert that in African religion, healing is a religious activity often attributed to God.
Some scholars emphasize the crucial role that ritual objects hold in the subjects of cultural and societal narratives. Gazin-Schwartz (2001: 263), for instance, draws attention to the profound interlocking of material culture, ritual, and everyday life, hinting at the complex nature of ritual objects. This aligns well with this study’s focus on understanding the relationships among these elements of ritual objects and ritual and spiritual performances within a specific cultural context, of the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. Patera (2012: 3) confirms the notion that ritual objects are more than mere physical items. He sees them as crucial media of religious communication, intertwined with the divine. This position connects directly to the study’s intent to examine ritual objects not just as physical entities, but also as carriers of deep-seated religious and symbolic significance. Mbiti (2015: 134), in a similar vein, singles out the integral role of rituals in health, healing, prevention of harm, and purification, showcasing their function as practices transcending conventional Global North medical paradigms. However, according to Blier (1995: 5) bocis (sculptures) work in sync with spiritual forces known as vodun energies to protect the Yoruba people from harm, danger, heal or improve their lives. In the same manner, according to this study, the ritual objects (clay pots, bowls, milk cups, calabashes, coffee beans, ghee, and milk) are directly linked to their object-ritual and spiritual performances through reverence mediated by Catherine Nabukeera (Omweyimirize Maama Nakayima’s spirit medium).
The literature review has unpacked the impact of colonial and Eurocentric approaches on the interpretation and relocation of ritual objects, leading to a loss of cultural heritage and misinterpretation of objects. The critical need to decolonize art history and research methodologies, advocating for the inclusivity of Indigenous knowledge systems and local narratives has been highlighted. Emphasis has been placed on the interconnectedness of ritual objects and their performative contexts, foregrounding their role in spiritual practices. By examining the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural and historical meaning of ritual objects, advocating for their contextual interpretation within their performative contexts. This approach not only challenges the static representation of these objects in museums but also calls for a more nuanced and authentic understanding of ritual objects, led by African scholars and voices.
This section delineates the ideological approaches I employed in gathering and analyzing the information in this book. This study centers on the multiple ways meanings are formulated through interactions with ritual objects associated with the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. The study further situates select contemporary Ugandan artists and students in relation to the discourse around the objects that are found at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill and related objects housed in the Uganda museum. The study’s methodology is based on the principles outlined in Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s work on Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (1999), which addresses decolonizing research methodologies. Additionally, it draws on the insights from Sociology Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos’s work Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide (2015).
I am a Ugandan engaged in studying art history and visual culture. This background positions me with the opportunity to explore the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Uganda, more specifically the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, Africa, and to contribute to the global discourse on art and culture. The spiritual space of Mubende Hill is a lived sacred space where I immersed myself within the Balyammere’s object-ritual and spiritual performances, not only to acquire knowledge but to learn from the Balyammere’s experiences within object-ritual and spiritual performances. So, throughout this book I use oral history, to historicize and narrativize the Balyammere’s object-ritual and spiritual performances to produce new forms of Indigenous meaning and knowledge.
Smith above critiques Global Northern research paradigms and practices that have been imposed on Indigenous peoples and cultures, and the need for developing methodologies that respect and affirm Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and thereby support a decolonial purpose. Smith departs by defining the term research as a “dirty” word because it has been used by the colonizers to justify and perpetuate harm against Indigenous peoples through exploitative and unethical practices. She advocates for a decolonizing approach to research that accounts for Indigenous principles, perspectives, and priorities, informed by Indigenous ethics, protocols, and relationships and that seeks to empower Indigenous people as agents of change (Smith 1999: 1). As a Ugandan who, in some ways, is a member of the community (Baganda) being researched, I conducted this research from an insider’s perspective (Muganda) (Smith 1999: 137), while acknowledging that in other ways I was not part of the immediate community (spiritual space of Mubende Hill). While any outsider/insider status is complex due to differences in age, sex, and religion (Naaeke et al. 2011), Indigenous researchers need to research within their communities (Smith 1999: 137). In this regard, I theorize this study as a researcher based within my community with an emphasis on Indigenous ways of knowledge production.
De Sousa Santos (2015) aligns with Smith (1999) in emphasizing knowledge decolonization. De Sousa Santos contends that prevailing knowledge in the Global North has suppressed the diverse ways of knowing in the Global South, asserting that the pursuit of global social justice must involve a parallel effort for global cognitive justice. To succeed, this struggle requires a new kind of thinking, a post-abyssal thinking (de Sousa Santos 2015: 124). Such a pattern entails a new transnational political culture embedded in new forms of sociability and subjectivity (de Sousa Santos 2015: 48). He proposes a decolonial approach to epistemology that recognizes and values the pluralism and diversity of knowledge production in the world. Grounded in de Sousa Santos’s decolonial viewpoints on knowledge production, this art history book, theorized by an African scholar, aims to generate knowledge from the lived object-ritual experiences of the Balyammere’s stories. This is accomplished through a historical contextualization in texts complemented by visuals. The meanings of the object-ritual and spiritual performances are not fixed but fluid within various contexts (de Sousa Santos 2018: viii; Hountondji 1996: 41–42; Mudimbe 1988: 202). Beginning with myself as the focal point, this study emphasizes the development of new art histories led by African scholars, aiming to create knowledge that breaks away from colonial and Eurocentric paradigms (Simbao et al. 2017: 13–14).
I employ qualitative methods to study how people and things interact in complex ways. I focus on the “depth” rather than “breadth” of interactions as suggested by Rubin and Rubin (2005: 2), the authors of Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data. In September 2020, while waiting for the president13 to reopen the cultural institutions still under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I made several trips to interview the contemporary Ugandan artists whom I had first selected as potential participants as seen below. I ascertained that most of the artworks of these artists were largely influenced by their cultural, social, political, and economic connotations. However, I realized that some of the selected artists did not fully serve the intended purpose of the study of specifically focusing or relating to the Mubende Hill spiritual space. So, I included artworks by Xenson Ssenkaaba,14 Lilian Mary Nabulime,15 and stories from artists such as Anderu Immaculate Mali16 and Edward Balaba17 for a more meaningful study. I incorporated structured and semi-structured questions into a flexible interview schedule for my research participants at the spiritual space, for the select artists outside and within Makerere University, and at the Uganda Museum. The questions in the semi-structured interviews allowed flexibility and co-creation of meaning in a way that respected the participants’ narratives and their views. This study relies primarily on individual stories of people’s interactions with objects, focusing on indigenously embedded experiences and ways of interacting with objects. It is complemented by secondary sources, enriching the understanding of these interactions. Russell Bishop, as quoted by Smith (1999: 166), clarifies that storytelling is a respectful and culturally fitting way to carry out research because it lets the storyteller stay in control and share their truth in their own voice instead of the researcher controlling the story. Bishop (1999: 145) further suggests that identity and meaning of a community springs from the lived experiences of its members, not just history or tradition, but ongoing life and storytelling.
In that regard, on 9 September 2020, I went to Ivan Yakuze’s18 house, where his studio is located, and interviewed him about his barkcloth works. In addition, I visited Makerere University and conducted face-to-face interviews with several artists on 30 September 2020 (Philip Kwesiga,19 Bruno Sserunkuma,20 Richard Kabiito,21 Emmanuel Eroku,22 and Donald Nantagya23). Then, on 11 January 2021, I had an online conversation with Rose Namubiru Kirumira24 and a face-to-face conversation with Fred Mutebi25 at his home. I concluded the artists interviews with an email interview with Sanaa Gateja26 on 2 February 2021. I analyzed how select artists (re)presented objects directly/indirectly related to those at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill through their artistic practices, thereby expanding the meaning of these objects. Each artist provided their perspective on what/why/how they (re)presented specific objects such as clay pots, clay bowls, calabashes, and cloth within specific artworks. The data analysis results reflected social, cultural, political, and economic perspectives on object engagement.
I visited the spiritual space of Mubende Hill and began fieldwork from 1 October to 30 November 2020, and from 27 December 2020 to 7 January 2021.27 During the former period, specifically the month of October, I engaged in personal observation because it allowed me to gain an insider’s perspective on the meanings and values that Balyammere attach to their practices, as well as the taboos therein. With personal observation, I was able to carefully understand the object-ritual, cultural and religious sensitivities (Coffey 2018: 72; Smith 1999: 176) of the Balyammere at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, especially since I was an outsider in terms of my gender, ethnicity, and religious affiliation. The object-ritual and spiritual performances at the spiritual space involve delicate aspects of complexities with reproduction and skin.
Personal observation also helped me avoid imposing my assumptions or biases (Coffey 2018: 67; DeWalt and DeWalt 2011: 205) on the Balyammere’s object-ritual performances that I studied and learned from, and instead focus on (insider) views of the Balyammere. I acknowledge the complex and dynamic positionality as an insider-outsider (Bernard 2012: 203; Coffey 2018: 80; Smith 1999: 137) and that it influenced my interactions with the Balyammere’s object-ritual and spiritual performances as elaborated below. On the one hand, I was an insider because I shared some aspects of their cultural and historical background as a Ugandan and a Muganda. On the other hand, I was an outsider because I did not belong to the spiritual space of Mubende Hill’s Indigenous community. Anthropologist Abby Forster argues that native anthropology offers a critique of dominant anthropological practices by opposing the customary position of natives as objects and countering Eurocentric domination in academia. She states further that, at the same time, native anthropologists have been strong in voicing the fluidity of identity, demonstrating that every researcher is both an insider and an outsider (2012: 14). It is important to note that in this research I am not trying to analyze the various debates within insider/outsider anthropological research but rather trying to highlight their existence.
This study draws from James Patrick Williams, a cultural sociologist’s definition of personal observation that proposes an unobtrusive method of studying social world aspects without participating directly with the participants. Williams further clarified that nonparticipant observers are sometimes “co-present” and at other times may not be present within a naturalistic setting with the research participants (2008: 561). Giampietro Gobo (2011: 16), a sociologist, adds to Williams’s observation, noting that the latter notion does not account for the co-present/present nature of the observer by mentioning that in personal observation a researcher observes his/her subjects from a distance without interacting with them. This co-present methodology serves as the foundation for observing the Balyammere as they engage in their daily activities of prayer, thanksgiving, and homage with objects around the Omweyimirize tree.
During the first month of October, I established a daily schedule. I did not rush into participating in the sacred object-ritual and spiritual performances of the Balyammere. I arrived at the spiritual space every day by 7:00 a.m., greeted the Balyammere who had gathered in groups or individually, swept the grounds, and washed utensils, milk vessels, and any other ritual objects that needed cleaning as the days went by. I used to partake in these activities while ensuring I did not lose focus of my observations of object-ritual and spiritual performances of the Balyammere. Whenever I got a break between the activities, I would sit on my mat and make notes of my observations with a pen and paper. This was my pattern until, on 21 October 2020, a Mulyammere named Lydia,28 who seemed mentally unwell, approached me and asked loudly:
Nnyabo, lwaki buli lunaku okwata peeni n’olupapula? Biki by’oba owandiika? Lwaki otuwandiikako? Puleezidenti yaggalawo amasomero naye ggwe oli wano ne peeni n’empapula buli kaseera owandiika, biki by’owandiika nga amasomero baagaggala? (Madam, why do you always hold a pen and paper daily? What do you always write about? Why are you writing about us? The president closed the schools, but you are always here with a pen and paper writing. What are you writing when the schools were closed?) (Lydia 2020)
I was startled and terrified by this confrontation as she had drawn everyone’s attention. I respectfully asked for her forgiveness and replied, “Madam, I come in peace. I am writing this material strictly for study purposes.” I unintentionally made notes on the spiritual premises while writing, and that incident marked the last time I did so. Lydia considered it disrespectful, and others may also have found it improper, it was a startling, daunting, and instructive experience. DeWalt and DeWalt (2011: 266–67) emphasize that participant observation necessitates an open mind, a non-judgmental attitude, and a keen interest in learning from others. The authors further assert that observers must be sensitive to different situations, acknowledge potential errors and cultural shocks, observe, listen carefully, and be prepared for surprises and the unexpected. Reflective on the above observations, I learned about the practices of the Balyammere more respectfully and beneficially to the Balyammere, the ritual specialists, and myself. Lydia rebuked my fieldwork documentation at the sacred site, raised questions about who then has the research right, and indeed made observations of the Balyammere and ritual specialists at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill challenging.29 In this vein of critical self-reflection was the ethical question as to what information I should include if I wrote about these individuals, and what I should disregard?30
Participating in daily activities on the spiritual space’s premises did not necessitate my acquiring an insider’s position. Despite belonging to the same socio-linguistic group and clan as some Balyammere, I was still an outsider to some. To gain the Balyammere’s confidence, I had to be persistent and join their daily rituals, which involved placing myself in the sacred space’s experiences. This is what Simbao (2017: 1) calls “situating,” a term that implies both physical and metaphorical alignment with the specific situations informed by lived experiences. Echoing Simbao’s perspective, my journey necessitated a departure from Kampala to immerse myself in the sacred space of Mubende Hill to learn from the Balyammere’s personal experiences. While I engaged intimately with the object-ritual and spiritual performances, I aligned myself with the locale’s spiritual and ritual narratives, which facilitated my acquisition of potential interviewees. Throughout the second month of November 2020, I had to participate in alternative ways of gaining the Balyammere’s trust. I engaged in participant observation in the ritual performances of thanksgiving by eating food and fruits, singing, dancing, drumming, praying around the tree, sowing seeds around the tree (okusiga), laying a new carpet of spear grass within the tree partitions and the various fireplaces, and purchasing food items such as milk, bread, sugar, and plantains for the individuals at the spiritual space. These acts exemplify the concept of “seen face” according to Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999: 15), who states that being visible to others, attending significant cultural events, and presenting oneself reinforces one’s belonging and credibility in a community. After directly participating in the ritual and spiritual performances, I believed I had earned the trust of the Balyammere and ritual specialists, but this was different because there was still a gap or a difference between the insider and outsider perspectives (Smith 1999: 15). Besides, in some cases, there were Balyammere who only interacted with the object-ritual performances for a day or two and thereafter left the site. In that regard, gaining rapport was challenging. Nonetheless, I acquired the trust of at least some Balyammere, though not all, because people’s capacity to trust varies. As a result, locating prospective participants was challenging.
At the beginning of my research, I intended to interview the late spirit medium Restetuta Nalubega, but she passed away in May 2020 before I began fieldwork. Her granddaughter, Catherine Nabukeera, succeeded her. During my first trip to the spiritual space of Mubende Hill, from October to November 2020, I conducted ten interviews, with ten Balyammere. I specifically acquired two interviews, from the specialist Balyammere, Moses Ssentongo (tour guide) on 11 November 2020, and Catherine Nabukeera (the acting Nakayima spirit medium) on 21 November 2020; and eight from the ordinary Balyammere. Among the eight, one was from a group of five Basazamazima31 (Charles Sekyanzi, Fred Ssekate, Mary Katusabe, John Ssemanda, and Geoffrey Ssebuma) on 16 November 2020. The other seven interviews were obtained from Fred Sebatta, Local Council 1 Chairman (18 November 2020), Tasha (19 November 2020), Kadidi (20 November 2020), Shaliwa (23 November 2020), Ibra (26 November 2020), Dudu (12 November 2020), and Don (29 November 2020).
Among all the above-mentioned interviews, eight proved meaningful for my study. However, four significant interviews occurred during my second fortnight trip, from 27 December 2020 to 7 January 2021. These interviews were specifically with Harriet (3 January 2021), Kinyomo (4 January 2021), Musawo (5 January 2021), and Kalisa (6 January 2021), the Balyammere with whom I had interacted during my first trip but was unable to acquire interviews with at that time. I was surprised that the Balyammere with whom I interacted during my first trip were ecstatic at seeing me again. This made acquiring potential participants much easier than on my first trip. Did I seem more of an insider and less of an outsider during my second trip? Moreover, what does this mean for the researcher and the research subject in terms of gaining trust and learning about the practices of the Balyammere and the ritual specialists? The Balyammere and the ritual specialists respected researchers like me more after my prolonged periods at the spiritual space’s premises. The departure-return idea was more fulfilling to the Balyammere, deepening the trust-bond relationship. This move granted me the opportunity to acquire several follow-up conversations from Ssentongo (25 January 2021) and Omutaputa (3 January 2021 and 2 May 2022), either via WhatsApp or direct recorded mobile phone calls regarding information about the spiritual space of Mubende Hill that needed clarity.
During my absence at the spiritual space, my research assistant, also the tour guide, Moses Ssentongo, and Omutaputa updated me on the spiritual space’s activities and any upcoming events that needed my awareness. Moses informed me of the scheduled inaugural ceremony for the Nakayima spirit medium scheduled for 16 December 2021. Besides, I needed to conduct more research in western Uganda to trace the trajectory of the above title due to its fluidity in terms of the various linguistic aspects. I took a trip to Kabale/Kaharo in western Uganda (8 to 12 December 2021) to acquire some interviews in line with the various titles such as “Nyakahima,” “Nyakahuma,” “Nyabingi,”and “Muhumuza,” attributed to the spirit of Nakayima. Before embarking on this trip, I contacted Angel Busingye.32
During this research, Busingye helped me make calls regarding how to locate potential participants. The potential interviewees ought to have some knowledge, preferably having witnessed or encountered the women with the above-mentioned titles, for meaningful interview acquisition. Unfortunately, most of the knowledgeable long-lived individuals had passed away. Regardless, Busingye helped me acquire four prospective interviewees: John Baliddi, John Basingwire, William Ntindimwebwa (9 December 2021) and Regina Bashukana (11 December 2021), but only three were beneficial to my study. Another relevant interview I acquired from this trip was from His Holiness Bashir Mulema, the current Bachwezi King (Figure 0.2). One might question the possibility of me contacting the current Bachwezi King, His Holiness Bashir Mulema. Individuals occupying senior roles frequently need assistance in reaching out and arranging appointments. Mulema’s sister, Rose Namatovu, initiated my meeting with him. I got to know Namatovu in 2018 because I used to buy herbal medicine from her, and I remained in touch when I relocated to Rhodes University to pursue my doctoral degree. Before embarking on the Kabale/Kaharo trip, I had an audio conversation on 1 December 2021 with Namatovu via WhatsApp, informed her about my research and that I was searching for potential participants. She informed me that she has a brother called Mulema who engages in ritual and spiritual activities, though she had not seen him for a while. Because Namatovu and Mulema were relatives, it was easier for Namatovu to help me request an interview from the brother. She helped me contact Mulema, who was initially skeptical about a possible interview from someone he did not know. After continuous calls from his sister, Mulema finally agreed to a face-to-face interview, though this was on the condition that I had to travel with his sister to interview him. So, I traveled to Igongo Cultural Center in Mbarara with Namatovu on 8 December 2021 to interview Mulema.
Figure 0.2 His Holiness King Bashir Mulema of Buchwezi kingdom, 2021. © Claire Nalukenge.
To conclude our meeting, Mulema informed me about his supposed officiation of the Nakayima spirit medium’s inaugural ceremony on 16 December 2021, at Mubende Hill, the Nakayima tree’s humble abode. Due to the uncertainty of acquiring more potential respondents as the intended respondents had passed, and the costly nature of the trip, the trip was short-lived. However, I remained in touch with the respondents for follow-up interviews and possible recommendations. Despite the short nature of the trip, accompanied by the few meaningful acquired interviews, I acquired more depth about the Nakayima from a western Uganda perspective, which I used to relate the above titles with the central Ugandan title of Nakayima.33 Besides, a better understanding of the spirit medium’s ceremonial dress code was elaborated on by Regina Bashukana, which climaxed in the reconstruction of Queen Muhumuza’s attire. This reconstructed attire helped generate meaning derived from the varied connections between the reconstructed attire of Queen Muhumuza and the attire of the Nakayima diorama in the Uganda Museum.
The controversies surrounding the Nakayima spirit medium became so pronounced during the inaugural ceremony held on 16 December 2021, at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. The contestations for this seat lie between the granddaughter of the former spirit medium Catherine Nabukeera, Mary Katusabe (Omusazamazima), and Buganda as a kingdom. His Holiness King Bashir Mulema graced the ceremony as the guest of honor and the officiator of the Nakayima. His Holiness King Bashir Mulema inaugurated Mary Katusabe as the Nakayima within the premises of the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. One important thing to note, though, was that the ceremony did not take place within the official partition of the Nakayima at the tree, though it was within the premises. Besides, there was no representative from the rival parties. Catherine Nabukeera, the current spirit medium, carried on with her everyday duties of attending to the Balyammere within the Nakayima’s partition. How was the rightful Nakayima determined, especially considering that the opponents were not present at the ceremony? Were they invited but did not attend, or were they not invited at all?
I proceeded with the research process and traveled to western Uganda, Kaharo, between 15 and 18 April 2022, to reconstruct Muhumuza’s attire. The reconstructed attire was slated for the above dates, but unfortunately the process proceeded until 24 April 2022, due to the tedium of the creation process. Ninety-eight-year-old Regina Bashukana led a group of nine individuals in the generation of the attire. This process broadened my knowledge regarding the various information about people’s perspectives concerning the Nakayima, more so from a western Uganda perspective. The reconstruction of Muhumuza’s attire revealed ideas of embodiment and ceremonial clothing for the royals and ordinary society people in ancient times and, most importantly, exhibited the multifunctionality that the attire embedded. The attire was ceremonial and acted as a blanket in times of need. This attire was used as an entry point to discuss and relate the politics that surround the western Uganda perspective of Nakayima with the central Uganda version of the Nakayima and the Nakayima diorama in the Uganda Museum. So, the analysis of both garments and their significant corporeal performance was conducted and discussed in more detail, pondering on various questions. In what way do the titles Nyakahima, Nyakahuma, Nyabingi, Muhumuza, and Nakayima correspond to the exhibited attires of Muhumuza and the diorama at the Uganda Museum, considering both temporal and spatial dimensions? What impressions and connotations are formed by the contexts of the two attires? Are perceptions and meanings context-dependent, and, if so, what does that imply?
The contested meanings regarding the spiritual space of Mubende Hill further emphasize the importance of the former Bachwezi rule at the spiritual space in this study. Besides, it clarifies the questionable existence of the Bachwezi, as exhibited by some historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists. So, in line with the Bachwezi’s questioned existence, this study engaged more with the current Bachwezi king, His Holiness Bashir Mulema, through interview conversations as highlighted above and attended ceremonies that portrayed the existence of the Bachwezi empire. The Drum event that unites people with God in all Bachwezi nations conducted from 10 to 12 May 2022 and the inaugural ceremony for the Nakayima spirit medium that I attended respectively, dismiss assertions about the non-existence of the Bachwezi kingdom, or state. These ceremonies provided this research with authentic information about the history, culture, and identity of the Bachwezi. Centuries after its supposed disappearance in the fifteenth century, His Holiness Bashir Mulema’s reign as the king of the Bachwezi was formally inaugurated with the introduction of the Bachwezi regalia, including drums and the flag, along with the accompanying anthem. Why is the Bachwezi’s existence questionable even though they exhibit traces of history in the form of a king, flag, and anthem? What happened to the kingdom and the Bachwezi people during this extended non-existential period? I contacted King Bashir Mulema for follow-up conversations and clarity on questions that required more information. Gathering information from individuals in positions of authority often involves additional effort due to information control. His Holiness King Bashir Mulema regulated the information discussed in this research, asserting the authenticity of his information while dismissing all other accounts as inaccurate.
In line with the above contestations, this research required more depth and knowledge about the various stakeholders managing the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. Before this research, I had set out to interview Ministers of Culture Janat Mukwaya (Uganda) and Sylvia Mazzi (Buganda), respectively. However, that was not possible due to their busy schedules. I contacted Stephen Nyombi (former Executive Director of Buganda Heritage Tourism Board), who informed me that the above-mentioned ministers I had selected would not have provided me with the information I needed directly concerning the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. These individuals could have provided me with general information about cultural institutions rather than the spiritual space.
Hence, Nyombi suggested individuals within the Buganda culture whom he believed possessed knowledge about the spiritual space. From 4 to 5 February 2021, I engaged in in-person discussions with Saava Mugerwa and Grace Mukisa Kayongo from Buganda Cultural Routes, and Moses Batemyeto, an officer in the Buganda Tourism Ministry, respectively. The insights gained from these conversations served as a foundation for stakeholder narratives, offering both the perspectives of those in positions of influence and more personal narratives about the spiritual space. Personal in the sense that the individuals above provided views about the spiritual space that reflected their faith and that of their forefathers and the respect they revered for the spiritual space as opposed to the space being a tourist site.
Apart from data collected in the above manner, relevant data was also collected through participation in recent conferences, workshops, and talks that mainly focused on Indigenous knowledge and museum studies. Among these gatherings was the “Indigenous Knowledge Conference and Intellectual Property Rights in Africa and the World” (IK21) conference held from 8 to 11 November 2019, organized by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. This conference was intended to celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Languages and Nelson Mandela’s legacy of advancing social inclusion. The purpose of this conference was to bring a diversity of scholars and practitioners together to explore, debate, and discuss Indigenous knowledge and its relevance to epistemology and society, and to continue South Africa’s journey to deepening inclusivity in learning and research. At this conference, I acquired the contact details of the guest speaker, Professor John Huston Stanfield II, Chair of African Studies at the University of Mauritius, for a follow-up interview. We initially had a brief conversation about decolonization, during the lunch break. Stanfield reckoned: “Mark my words just like I said during my speech, Africans should stop stressing about decolonization and yet we are still colonized. It should not be a question of wanting it but rather living it. We need to first decolonize ourselves.” Responding to Stanfield’s assertion, this book is based on oral tradition, oral narratives, and oral stories of how people interact with ritual objects during ritual and spiritual performances to generate meaning, hence putting traditional African rituals and spiritual performances at the forefront of knowledge production.
Besides, other gatherings provided crucial information concerning museums and collections, specifically within the perspectives of Uganda and the diaspora. These gatherings included the Winter Seminar Series Online Webinar by the Center for African Art and Archaeology held on 16 February 2021, where Nelson Abiti, the curator for ethnography and history at the Uganda National Museum, presented an article titled “Rethinking the Ethnography of Tribal Art in Uganda: The Mato Oput Ritual Practice, Salvage, Violence, and Reconciliation.” The Mato Oput is a traditional Acholi ritual where a drink is prepared from a tree (Oput) by grinding the tree roots to produce a reconciliatory drink that is shared by all parties in a conflict. The rituals in this study involve corporeal symbolic actions such as touching, drinking, smearing, pouring, and eating, depending on the specific object utilized for wellness purposes. Another workshop/launch I attended was on 3 March 2021, by the Education, Justice, and Memory Network (EDJAM) as the official launch of EDJAM in Uganda. The launch, “#2 JUSTICE”, was framed as a conversation hosted by Nelson Abiti with Ciraj Rassool, a senior history professor at the University of the Western Cape South Africa, and Pablo de Greiff, an academic and human rights activist, chaired by Francis Nono, the EDJAM field office coordinator. EDJAM is a collaborative international group of researchers, educators, and civil society organizations working in arts, education, and heritage. This workshop elaborated on how mobile exhibitions have provided a platform for individuals and communities within the war-torn areas of Uganda to interact with museum objects specifically relating to conflict and reconciliation and narrate personal stories of these objects for healing purposes. This workshop resonates with this study in that it acknowledged human-object relationships and context by bringing museum collections related to conflicts closer to the people and communities who experienced the disputes.
In addition, the Department of History Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Makerere University held a workshop from 6 to 7 May 2021, in collaboration with the Uganda Museum. The workshop was themed “Remaking a National Museum” to deliberate on ways of advancing the role of museums in transforming societies as part of the supra-national research platform, Remaking Societies Remaking Persons Forum. This workshop emphasized the importance and necessity of a decolonial museum, both within a Ugandan context and on a global scale. This study delves into these concepts extensively. Moreover, it focuses on critiquing the Uganda Museum as it holds essential ritual objects that belonged to the spiritual space of Mubende Hill. In June 2021, this study sought to seek information regarding the ritual objects (vessels) that were displaced from the Mubende Hill by Lanning to the Uganda Museum and thereby decontextualized, obliterating information about the Nakayima diorama as well as other useful visual texts related to the spiritual space. During my museum visit, I acquired an interview from Nelson Abiti (2021a), the Curator of Ethnography at the Uganda Museum, who provided insightful information about the Nakayima diorama’s origin, spiritual space, and related objects. While at the museum premises, I photographed visuals of the vessels and beakers, the Nakayima diorama, and the miniature objects housed together with the diorama. I had a conversation with Abiti, who informed me that reconstruction of the vessels and beakers is still underway because they tried to reconstruct the objects but were yet to succeed. He also asserted that these vessels and beakers were only exhibited once, in 1953. Surprisingly, the vessels and beakers are kept in the museum storage and await reconstruction. Additionally, Wartson Atutwatse, the museum’s archivist, contributed valuable resources to this study from July to August 2020. He provided journals, newspapers, books, and pamphlets that related to Mubende Hill and cultural sites in general. These materials supported the study’s discussions on spiritual spaces, museums, ritual objects, spiritual wellness, and performances. The most problematic issue that still lingers in the Uganda Museum, which this study observed, was the socio-linguistic categorization of museum objects and the fact that the museum remains colonial in terms of its setting and curation.
This book draws on a diverse range of sources, including media articles, academic journals, digital content, literature, and visual media, alongside interviews with artists, Balyammere ritual specialists, cultural experts, and museum professionals. These resources substantiate the book’s claims and affirm the significance of oral traditions in knowledge dissemination within a decolonized African context, as noted by Bishop (Smith 1999: 145). The data acquired from most of the above sources of information over the past years, more so archives, revealed that ritual objects have always been and continue to be separated from their respective ritual practices. In contrast, raw data from the interviews revealed the importance of meaning created by not separating ritual objects from their intended performances within their original contextual frameworks. The students’ and artists’ choice of using similar objects was shaped by the cultural, social, political, and economic significance of these objects. Additionally, they were motivated by the desire to create art that resonates globally, influenced by the “art for art’s sake” concept. Nassireddine Dida, an assistant lecturer at the University of Ecahid Hamma-Lakhdar-El Oued Algeria, notes that “art for art’s sake” is an ideology used to suppress literary works that challenge colonialism and capitalism. It is seen as a strategy of domination to blind the oppressed to the realities of their situation (2022: 61). In relation to this study, this ideology is explored in the ways how contemporary artworks by the 2019 art history students from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts and select Ugandan artists reimagine ritual objects, highlighting their artistic value beyond their functional use. The visual arts in Uganda have historically grappled with recognition, often overshadowed by the utilitarian emphasis on education and societal development. This struggle is exemplified by President Museveni’s reported remarks in the Uganda Monitor newspaper of 17 August 2014, dismissing art courses as “useless” within academic institutions. Such a stance reflects a broader undervaluing of the arts, which contrasts sharply with the “art for art’s sake” ideology above that champions art’s autonomy and its right to exist solely for its aesthetic contribution to society. The tension between these perspectives highlights the ongoing debate about the role of art in Ugandan society and its educational system.
This art history book comprises a preface, an introduction, four main chapters and a conclusion developed from four objectives structured as follows: Chapter 1 investigates the contextual shift in the meaning and significance of objects, contrasting the spiritual essence of ritual objects at Mubende Hill in Uganda with their often-distorted representation in museums. It highlights how contemporary Ugandan artists, including the 2019 art history students from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, reinterpret these objects, challenging colonial narratives and affirming Indigenous spirituality.
Chapter 2 focuses on the theories that frame ritual and spiritual performances, guiding the analyses and discussions of the book. The chapter draws on various theories and concepts from art history, anthropology, museology, performance studies, and postcolonial studies to examine the analyses and discussions on objects and their performative contexts.
Chapter 3 focuses on Mubende Hill’s historical and cultural significance, and seeks to challenge Global Northern biases in the representation of this sacred site. It aims to enrich the narrative by incorporating Indigenous oral histories, offering an alternative perspective that revises the existing understanding of this spiritual space.
Chapter 4 centers on the role of ritual objects in the ritual and spiritual practices at Mubende Hill. This chapter examines how these objects are utilized and valued within ritual and spiritual performances. It emphasizes connecting these objects to their original contexts and meanings, resisting isolation from their performative uses for a holistic understanding. The chapter climaxes with a conclusion that highlights the key points of the book and explains the relevance of the information of this art history research and how it is applicable or related to the world views.
This study contributes to the field of African art history by examining the ritual objects and performances at the spiritual space of Mubende Hill in Uganda, highlighting their cultural and historical significance, their role in facilitating healing and well-being, and their dynamic and embodied interactions with the human and spiritual realms. It also challenges the conventional colonial and Eurocentric approaches to the study of ritual objects that separate them from their performative contexts and meanings and calls for new art histories that prioritize Indigenous perspectives and knowledge production. The following chapter delves into the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings that inform this study, as well as addresses the ethical and practical challenges encountered during the research process and how they were resolved.