Seat at the Table is an exhibition featuring a selection of artworks by Pamela Enyonu, a Ugandan artist living and working in Kampala. Enyonu’s art brings to book an array of synergies pertaining to femininity, while simultaneously shining the spotlight on the injustices experienced by women at the hands of patriarchy. Enyonu’s pieces cover themes which depart from subtle gestures of reception of the female body but that then spread outwards to address identity and a variety of social practices. The artist enjoys discovering materials with which to experiment, both in their visual and tactile dimensions. The products of such experiments are often series, whose reach goes beyond the exploration of a specific theme and spills into the maturation of skill, showcasing the growth inherent to the artist’s experimentation.

While drawing inspiration from her work and life in Kampala, Enyonu’s artwork leans on her personal experiences with colourism, especially as a female. Rather ironically, in Uganda a darker skin shade invites stigma because it is regarded as unattractive, and especially so in the case of women, something which has forced many women to opt for the bleaching of their skin.

By painting her subjects’ bodies black, Enyonu seeks to reaffirm the beauty that breathes within the darker skin complexion and to demystify all of the existing stigma around Blackness, which prevails even in Uganda where the majority of people are brown-skinned. The exhibition takes its title from one of Enyonu’s most recent paintings Seat At The Table. Beyond its captivating boldness, the painting fully embodies Enyonu’s artistic practice, which seeks to disturb the system of patriarchy by advocating for a place of respect in society for women. In A Seat At The Table, a woman looks down at the viewer as if challenging or judging them. Before the woman lies an envelope, a titleless book, and a staff of leadership. The piece is both a confrontation and an invitation. It confronts those who have excluded black women from their rightful power while simultaneously inviting black women (and women at large) to take this power for themselves.