•₊✶*✰ people’s art i <3 ✰*✶₊•

Ugandan Leilah Babirye’s masks: “Babirye decided masks would be the focal point of her work, as a way of exploring and representing the lived experiences of queer people in a homophobic society. Babirye began experimenting and expanding the idea of these masks, adding found materials to her ceramic and wood sculptures. She considered this making beauty from “trash” — a layered concept, as the word for “trash” in the Lugandan language is used as a common homophobic slur. In interviews, she has also talked about finishing her sculptures’ hair as “taking them to the salon,” contextualizing the salon not just as a place of beautification but as a joyful, safe space where people can gather. The titles she chooses for her artworks are based on different clans from the region. Naming them after clans is her way of asserting belonging when so many queer Ugandans experience rejection from their families. Uganda’s homophobia can be traced back to British colonialism, so these names also are a reminder that Ugandans have their own cultural history of greater freedom and acceptance.”

CAKE PICNIC!!!

always a sucker for Wayne Thiebaud’s cakes