ABSTRACT
Since the time of the founding of the Uganda Museum, curators have been obliged to work with very limited budgets, with only a few staff, and with shortfalls in equipment and infrastructure. Curators have built the collection opportunistically, by working with other institutions to acquire objects that have been made obsolete by changes in politics and technology. The turbulent history of Uganda has generated waves of objects that have become, all at once, outmoded. When the objects were incorporated into the Museum, they were reclassified as evidence of tribal culture or as proof of Ugandans' historical achievements. Today, as the Museum is struggling to renew and revitalize its public exhibitions, the place is full of life. It is a staging ground for initiatives that are conceived outside the Museum's walls, a venue for a constant stream of sponsored projects. This constant stream of sponsored activity has made the Museum into a bystander to its much larger public role: as a space for convocation.
