SOAS Special Collections

There was no photography allowed in the SOAS Special Collections, which is a bit of a shame.  They had a lot of different things from art to artifacts.  African art seems to pop up in unexpected places!


African art:

Matooke (Green Banana) by J Muyango, a student from Makerere University,  Uganda, was painted for an exam in the early 1960s.  This was my favourite thing in the gallery.

Colourful Slum by Ehigbor Iyoghioje from Nigeria painted in 2000.

Mother and Child by Margaret Towel from the 1940s, Uganda.

Akaba People's Prodigal Son (at least I think that's what it was called when I try to read my notes) by Kyalo son of Ngila from Kenya.

There was also a Nepalese Buddhist manuscript made from gouache ink and paper of Karandavyuha (Manifestation of Appearances according to the Gallery) and an Armenian manuscript.

Zarina Bhimji

Zarina Bhimji was born in Uganda but her family were forced to leave during Idi Amin's expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972. The Whitechapel Gallery is currently showing a retrospective of her work.

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 Her photos don't temd to show people, but rather suggest human activity through empty rooms, abandoned buildings etc.  I really liked the film and in particular the accompanying sounds in one of the galleries.

Afab Star

Another one of Bibby's dinners, this time in a Ugandan restaurant, Afab Star in New Cross. I think this has to be one of my favourites as the food was just so delicious.

We had:

Beef stew
Curry goat stew
Grilled chicken
Grilled tilapia (fish)
Spinach and peanut stew
Sweet Potato
Matoke (mashed green bannana)
Cassava
Fried plantain
Cooked Beans
Ugali (maize starch dish)
Chapati
Rice

Bibby even managed to persuade the restaurant owner to give us takeaway boxes so I got to have a Ugandan lunch at work the next day.

Milk Vessels

Milk Vessels made by the Huma people, Uganda