Leilah Babirye’s Totemic Sculptures: On Queer Activism in Uganda and the World

Leilah Babirye is a Ugandan sculptor who immigrated to the United States in 2018 as a queer asylum seeker who had faced life-threatening conditions in her home country. Since then, Babirye has grown to become one of the most sought-after queer artists in both the USA and Europe, going so far as to exhibit at the 2024 Venice Biennale, the art world’s premier event whose prestige is akin to the film industry’s Academy Awards. 

Babirye gained fame through her totem-like semi-abstract sculptures that embody her queer existence. She admits that she had to flee Uganda as her queer existence there often felt disenfranchised. Government orders and common folks actively discriminated against queer people, and she herself was outed in homophobic media for advocating for the queer community. The discrimination and oppression is something that she has also felt in the United States, albeit in different ways, where she was now seen as a Black queer person and struggled to find apartments and studio spaces. Babirye has since created sculptures that reflect on her life as a Black queer person, one who had faced adversity and found community and support either way. This is why her sculptures are relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities.

“What drives my work is West African masks which were all created with a purpose—and similarly, my work has a purpose, the purpose of symbolizing the community I believe in,” said Babirye in an interview with Artsy. It is true that Babirye’s sculptures, whether her towering wood carvings or her palm-sized ceramics, all embody a character wearing an African mask.

For example, her piece Namasole Wannyana, Mother of King Kimera from the Kuchu Royal Family of Buganda, which was shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale, refers to a queer person’s Buganda Kingdom clan name. These names are given to every newborn in Uganda to honour their connections to their ancestors. Sadly, it is also common practice to strip queer people of their clan name as a punishment for their “perversion”. Hence, Babirye’s sculptures tell the stories of these queer people, those who would have otherwise been overlooked and forgotten by history.  

Babirye’s piece for the New York City Public Art Fund, however, focuses instead on the collective Black queer experience in America. The piece titled Agali Awamu (Togetherness) contains her reflections on America’s complicated history with slavery and racism. She observes how this history has contributed to the marginalization of queer people of colour. Yet, her piece is about how Black queer people, and other people of colour, have managed to band together and create their own tribe, one that is strong enough to withstand a heteronormative society.

Leilah Babirye’s totemic sculptures powerfully capture her journey as a Black queer artist, one who has faced adversity in both Uganda and the United States. This is why her works, deeply rooted in the symbolism of African masks, are witnesses of the resilience and solidarity shown by queer communities across the world. Babirye’s continued participation in the art world helps to advocate for an intersectional approach when it comes to pursuing equal rights for queer people so that no one is left behind.

 Find out more about sculptures by Leilah Babirye and their other initiatives by checking their Instagram on @babiryesculptor.