Sidney littlefield kasfir biography of christopher brown

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We, in Uganda, artists, art historians, and curators mourn the passing of a friend, mentor and educator who championed art with her generous spirit, deep and far-reaching knowledge, love of people, and joyous disposition. Sidney moved to Kampala, Uganda with her husband Nelson Kasfir. She quickly made the acquaintance of notable intellectuals and artists such as Rajat Neogy, founder of Transition journal, sculptor Francis Nnaggenda and Barbara Brown, founder of Nommo Gallery.

These leading figures in the arts shaped her role and tenure as gallery director of the Nommo Gallery. It is present everywhere, and it brings into existence all that is seen and unseen.

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Uganda gained independence from Britain in , and the question of a transition from colonial protectorate to an independent state was crucial. In this chaotic attempt to forge a unique identity from colonial Britain, the struggle for a New Uganda was heard on theatre stages as much as in the Legislative Council. Thus, her exhibition program at Nommo not only complimented Transition , but brought new and challenging scholarship to the field of East African art, hitherto shaped almost exclusively by British artist Margaret Trowell — In a symposium lecture in Kampala, Sidney noted that Nommo Gallery was located on Kampala road, before moving to a bungalow on Nakasero Hill, donated by Milton Obote, then president of Uganda.

The commercial gallery mounted small group and solo exhibitions which included the works of Nnaggenda, Jak Katarikawe, and Richard Ndabugoye among others. After living in the country for four years, Sidney left Uganda just before the military coup that defeated the Obote government in In Uganda, this was just the beginning, and the chaos and bloodshed wore on for twenty years from to It was ended only by a successful guerrilla war waged from to in the Luwero Triangle in Buganda, only miles from Kampala.

This is a criticism that a few others, notably the Nigerian curator and critic Olabisi Silva shared. Her research vision and intellectual leadership helped create rich possibilities in thematic and methodological approaches for art historians.