Leilah Babirye

The first monograph for Leilah Babirye, foregrounding her artistic development, engagement with African sculpture and expansion of queer histories Published with Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. The evocative, adorned sculptures—made from wood and ceramics—of Ugandan artist Leilah Babirye (born 1985) foreground the inventive reuse of debris. She repurposes the metal gears and chains of bicycles to create elaborate headdresses, jewelry and braids, and the rubber inner tubes of bicycle tires to form long tresses. In this volume, Babirye discusses the origins of her practice and artistic development in conversation with Margaret Nagawa, the artist’s former professor. Curator Natasha Becker analyzes Babirye’s work in the context of African sculptural practices and contemporary art, representing the most significant scholarly engagement with the artist’s work to date. For Babirye, who fled Uganda after being outed as gay, this exhibition and catalog continue her commitment to uplifting LGBTQ+ identities through her unique and striking sculptures.