Meet: Sandra Ngenge Dusabe
Originally of Rwandese descent, but born in Kampala, Uganda, 23-year-old Sandra Ngenge Dusabe is a painter, curator and overall art enthusiast. She consumes and appreciates a lot of artistic things; It’s basically the only thing that she cares about. She is the oldest girl of her family, and graduated from the University of Ottawa with a bachelor’s of arts degree in 2023. She works full time for Debaser, and is the founder of The Moving Art Gallery; a platform created to provide equitable representation in visual arts. The nation’s capital has a severe lack of young Black and Femmes in art spaces, and their mandate is to uplift those who experience life in that intersection.
When asked about how the Moving Art Gallery came to be, Sandra said “The long and short of it is that I always had this concept in high school; I was still trying to figure out if art was something I really wanted to do with my life. I loved drawing, reading manga… I enjoyed any kind of graphic. I also always loved the idea of being in community and being amongst my kinfolk. I would always fantasize about being in an art space where everyone was enjoying themselves, talking, eating food and basking in the glory of all the art. I also like the idea of spontaneity, and I thought it would be so cool if I could take over a different kind of space every time, in a different way or manner in order to really give said art a time to shine”.
Photo Credit: @_curtisperry
Since it’s conception in 2020, Sandra states that it’s been nothing but trial and error, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. “The Moving Art Gallery also came out of just feeling isolated in Ottawa. At the beginning we had a pretty large team, but then I scaled it down mainly because it was difficult to keep everyone on the same accord, especially since it was during COVID. The representation across Canada for black artists is famously low considering how many of us are in this country making artwork, whether you’re a black-Canadian or if you’re an immigrant like myself, and I’m part of first generation of my family to really make roots here. I also felt like during my time in school there wasn’t really an opportunity to learn about black art history, so all of those things kind of made it a perfect storm”.
The Moving Art Gallery is what Sandra describes as an “intentional practice of curation”, with the premise to cultivate more community-oriented gallery spaces. Eventually, the plan is to have a legitimate publication that people can take home with them or receive retroactively. Many black publications, like Essence, are some of the last black print publications left and we hope to see Sandra’s idea come to fruition because print media is definitely NOT dead.
Black history month in the nation’s capital was at the forefront this year with an array of events and gatherings dedicated to celebrating the many facets of black culture, including the 2nd annual hair show, “Crépu: Our DNA” hosted by The MAG and Hors Pairs Social. When asked about how the two community building organizations came together, Sandra stated “I had been following Hors Pairs for a couple of months before I did my first in-person art show back in 2022, and I invited Sharlène. We met and ended up chatting about doing more art events in the city, and the point of Crépu was to push the limits of what art could be considered as. Going back to the reality of black Canadian art not being a prominent part of art culture in the country, she touched upon the concept of black hair; The history and the culture that derives from black hair is so abundant and we could definitely do a whole show surrounding that”.
Photo Credit: @photographyserena
“Crépu” is a bit of a loaded term and refers to hair being very curly, or in the colloquial sense, “Nappy”. A lot of research went into creating the first edition, so the second edition was mostly a breeze as both Sandra and Sharlène have large networks, so reaching out again was no problem, especially since they worked on the first edition together.
We all know about the natural hair movement and how at a certain point, society was hell-bent on pitting black women against each other (and still is), and a lot of that discourse came from what our hair looks like. We all remember when it was “lightskin vs. darkskin”, and all that mess. We asked Sandra if she’s ever had a moment where she felt the need to affirm her identity through her hair, to which she responded “I definitely relate to feeling detached from my hair. I didn’t consider it as a part of myself, or something to care for. I grew up super religious as well, so there was no way that I was going to be able to really afford anything but my mom doing my hair and that was not really my vibe, especially when I started to get older” Whew, we can definitely understand that. She continued on to say, “This was around the time that the natural hair movement was taking the internet by storm, so I was definitely on Youtube trying out new styles and getting products that I could afford and trying my best to find beauty in my own hair. By the time I finished high school, I had a pretty decent Afro, but by University I couldn’t do it anymore and told a friend of mine to just cut off my hair… I could not do it anymore”.
Photo Credit: @im_quest
From that point on, she began viewing her hair as a form of self-care. Just like we have a skincare routine, she developed a haircare routine and dedicated time to figure out what worked for her. Also, once she moved out on her own, that truly solidified the love she had for her hair because she could dedicate more time to it.
Toward the end of FGM’s interview with Sandra, we asked her what her wildest dream is with all of these endeavours, to which she responded “I definitely would love one day to have a brick and mortar gallery space which is unmoveable, unshakable, and essentially a refuge for people to come and feel at home. I would love for there to be two locations; One in Ottawa, and one in Gisenyi, which is located in the Northern part of Rwanda. When I visited my home country back in 2012, my fondest memories were up there. In terms of accessibility in the more rural parts of sub-Saharan countries, they don’t have a lot of things for them to do outside of their regular responsibilities. If the Genocide didn’t happen, I would still be in Rwanda. I just kept thinking about all the young kids who are not different from me and who don’t really have access to the resources to be able to just be kids and make art. So, my wildest dream would be to have a space in which they all have access to everything they need to express themselves creatively. The people there deserve to have all the things we have up here. And also, to have a roster of artists that are represented by the MAG”.
Photo Credit: @_curtisperry
We absolutely love that for her and before the conclusion of our interview with Sandra, she mentioned an ancient Central African term called “Ubuntu” which means “humanity to others”, which is often described as a reminder to us that “I am what I am because of who we all are”, and she explained “It’s like connectedness, sharing, refusing selfishness and being open to people. So, having that kind of sentiment within the future of the Moving Art Gallery is definitely what I hope to emphasize”.
Sandra has so many plans for The MAG and we are excited to see what the future holds for her and her organization. The dream is definitely for the world to return to “Ubuntu”. Make sure to keep up with Sandra and The Moving Art Gallery on social media and for all of their upcoming events and more!