In Luganda, the widest spoken minority language in Uganda, the word for photographs is ebifananyi. However, the word ebifananyi has a different and wider meaning than the etymological meaning of the word photograph as ‘light drawing’. Ebifananyi literally means ‘things that look like something else’. Ebifananyi are likenesses.

In the research project ‘Ebifananyi’, Stultiens explores the historical context of the particular notion of photographs as ‘likenesses’. She conceives of her artistic practice as research method. As part of this method, Stultiens digitalized many collections of photographs in Uganda that until this moment were not accessible.

Understanding the differences between ‘ebifananyi’ and ‘photographs’ shapes communication about photographs between Luganda and English speakers. Stultiens argues that reflection on the way in which objects and sensible aspects of the surrounding world are conceptualized in different languages will help prevent misunderstandings in communication in general.

SUPERVISORS
Prof. dr. Janneke Wesseling, Professor in Practice and Theory of Research in the Visual Arts, Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University
Prof. Frans de Ruiter, Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University
dr. Michel Doortmont, reader in International Relations and African Studies, Leiden University
Roy Villevoye, visual artist

Interview Andrea Stultiens, Exhibition ‘Ebifananyi – Mutualities’, PhDArts 2018

Interview by Lotte Betting
Camera/Editing: Katarina Juričić