HIPUganda

HIPUganda (History In Progress Uganda) is an initiative founded by artists Andrea Stultiens (NL/UG) and Canon Griffin (UG) that collects, digitises and publishes photographs from private collections and archives in and about Uganda. Its stated aim is to make historical photographic materials accessible and to activate them within artistic practices, both those of its founders and of others whose concerns overlap with theirs. The initiative positions artistic practice as a research method that complements more conventional approaches used by historians and ethnographers. The project's digital collection spans a wide range of photographic formats and sources, including glass plate negatives, cigarette trade cards, scrap albums, 35mm slides, wire photographs and magazine pages. Examples visible on the website include the Dr. A. T. Schofield glass plate negatives held in the Africana section of Makerere University's main library, a 1905 page from the British magazine "The Bystander" showing Daudi Chwa, cigarette trade cards issued in 1888 by Wm. S. Kimball & Co., 35mm slides from 1969–1970, a 1973 scrap album by Miss Victoria Nakazana Mukasa, and a collection titled "Amin's Bloody Rule." The materials are presented with contextual notes and are intended to be added to memories, create historical awareness and inform research. HIPUganda operates primarily as a digital platform and publishing project rather than a conventional commercial company. It invites public support through donations, stating that all resources are used to add more materials to the digital collection and to improve its accessibility. It maintains a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and X, and aims to update the website regularly. The initiative is also connected to academic work: Andrea Stultiens's dissertation, titled "Ebifananyi, a study of photographs in Uganda in and through an artistic practice" (2018), elaborates the position that photographs have no stable meaning and that their significance is produced through dialogue between viewers with different histories and experiences.

HIPUganda, short for History In Progress Uganda, is an initiative of artists Andrea Stultiens (NL/UG) and Canon Griffin (UG). It was established to collect and publish photographs from private collections and archives in and about Uganda, and to activate these historical materials in artistic practices. The project emerged from a belief that artistic practices can serve as research methods complementing conventional historical and ethnographic research. The initiative's approach is grounded in the idea that photographs have no stable meaning; rather, meaning is added by viewers and the discourses they inhabit. HIPUganda therefore treats the photographic image not as something fixed but as part of a dialogue between people with various histories and experiences. This position is elaborated in Andrea Stultiens's dissertation, "Ebifananyi, a study of photographs in Uganda in and through an artistic practice" (2018). Over time, HIPUganda has digitised and published a diverse range of materials. These include the Dr. A. T. Schofield glass plate negatives (442 items) from the Africana section of Makerere University's main library; a 1905 page from the British magazine "The Bystander" featuring Daudi Chwa; cigarette trade cards issued in 1888 by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.; 35mm slides from 1969–1970 likely made by expats in Jinja; a 1973 scrap album by Miss Victoria Nakazana Mukasa; a collection titled "Amin's Bloody Rule"; the Uganda Jubilee Report of the Mengo Medical Mission; a Kampala View Master reel; and reproductions of wire photographs of the Kenyan–Ugandan border from 1985 by AP photographer Denis Paquin. The website also references ROHO, the Journal of the Visual Arts in East Africa, published at the School of Arts, Makerere College Uganda and printed at Makerere College Library. The project operates as a digital platform, inviting donations to support the addition of more materials and to improve accessibility. It maintains a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and X, and aims to update the website regularly. HIPUganda's work serves people in different ways: adding to memories, creating historical awareness and informing research.

• 2018

  Andrea Stultiens completes dissertation 'Ebifananyi, a study of photographs in Uganda in and through an artistic practice'

• HIPUganda initiative founded by Andrea Stultiens and Canon Griffin

A non-commercial, artist-led digital archive and publishing initiative that makes Ugandan historical photographs accessible and treats artistic practice as a research method.

• Digital photographic archive

  Online collection of digitised historical photographs from private and institutional archives in and about Uganda.

• ROHO: Journal of the Visual Arts in East Africa

  Journal published at the School of Arts, Makerere College Uganda, printed at Makerere College Library.

• Dr. A. T. Schofield glass plate negatives

  Set of 442 glass plate negatives from the Africana section of Makerere University's main library.

1. 1History In Progress Ugandahipuganda.org
2. 2About History In Progress Ugandahipuganda.org
3. 3HIPUganda on Wikidatawikidata.org