A field research report on selected monumental sculptures in Uganda with the aim of critically analysing them.
Abstract
Monuments are structures specifically created to commemorate either a person or an event, to
remember a historical incidence related to either that person or that event. They are built /
constructed in different shapes, sizes, and importance but we treasure them and in more
developed societies, they are protected and valued.
Monuments not only add beauty and colour to a place, they are wonderful landmarks that say a
lot about the community and its heritage. In Uganda, there are personal monuments and
monuments of historical and cultural importance that have either been paid little attention to or
that we have looked at with little appreciation much as they are easy to reach. According to
Fredrick Nsibambi, a heritage consultant with The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda,
monuments are important in varying ways. “Monuments are reference points of our history and
culture, memorial sites and they also have economic reasons.”
Historically, the sculptural monuments depict historical background and incidences of the
country/ community where it is located. For example the independence monument was
designed to show freedom since the time Uganda got independence, the stride built in memory
of the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007. The
World War Memorial Monument was built in memory of the Ugandan soldiers who died
during World War I and II and among others.