Bathsheba Okwenje is a Ugandan installation artist, based in Fort Portal, artist who spent 3 months in residence at 32° East under the pilot social practices residency Politics of Return.

Politics of Return is a research program undertaken by London School of Economics and Political Science and 4 partner research institutions. It collects information on research patterns in East and Central Africa. In particular it questions assumptions around going home – what does it mean to return to a place you were forced to flee? As part of this, 3 artists were invited to do a residency during which they conducted their own research and entered into conversation with the research previously collected.

Bathsheba’s practice traces the stories and histories buried in quotidien objects. In Pabbo she photographed day-to-day objects that had gained new meaning since the onset of conflict in the region. Similarly, she researched phrases such as “jerrican without a handle” that had taken on new meaning and intention as a result of over 2 decades of conflict.