Leilah Babirye: We Have a History

This exhibition is included in general admission. Some artworks will be rotated during the run of the exhibition.

Born in Kampala, Uganda, and based in New York, Leilah Babirye is known for her highly expressive, ambiguously gendered sculptures in ceramic, wood, and discarded objects. Reclaiming ceramic and wood-carving traditions from western and central Africa, she hand builds her ceramics, firing them with expressive glazes, while she whittles, scorches, and burnishes her wood sculptures. As a final touch, she adorns them with wire, bicycle chains, inner tubes, and other found metals and materials. The sculptures, which range in scale from towering totemic forms to busts, talismans, and masks, are portraits of her LGBTQ+ community. Babirye’s work speaks to the power of reclaiming personal and cultural identity through artistic practices, historical narratives, and cultural traditions.

This exhibition, the artist’s first solo museum show in the United States, highlights the connection between past and present that is at the heart of our Contemporary African Art program.

Babirye’s work is a poignant reminder that even the most unlikely objects can be transformed into majestic works of art.

Babirye blurs lines between the past, present, and future to rewrite the cultural narrative of her community.

She incorporates modern practices and her queer eye into [her sculptures] exploring the diversity of LGBTQ identities.

Bay Area artists and art historians on Leilah Babirye: We Have a History.

Learn about Leilah Babirye’s artistic practice and journey as an artist.

This exhibition is organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

This exhibition is included in general admission. Some artworks will be rotated during the run of the exhibition.