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Margaret Trowell

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Margaret Trowell
Born
Margaret Kathleen Sifton

1904
England
Died05 April 1985
NationalityBritish
Alma materSt. Paul's Girls' School, London
Slade School of Art
Institute of Education, University of London
Known forEducation
Art education
Art research
Sculpture
SpouseHubert Carey Trowell

Margaret Trowell (née Margaret Kathleen Sifton; 1904 – 5 April 1985) was a British artist, author and curator who is credited with founding the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art (MTSIFA) in 1937 at the then Makerere College in the then Uganda Protectorate.[1][2][3]

She was also an artist and educator at her School of Arts in the 1930s. She was a curator for the National Museums of Uganda and as an administrator, she served as the president of the Uganda Society between 1946 and 1947.[4]

As an educator, she advocated for creativity in art education in Uganda by designing a curriculum that focused on both contemporary art and African art styles.[5]

Background and education

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Margaret Trowell was born in London in 1904. She attended primary school at St. Paul's Girls’ School, London. She later joined the Slade School of Fine Art and then the Institute of Education at the University of London in 1926 to study art education.[6]

While at the institute, she met and trained under Marion Richardson, who "trained her to appreciate non-Western cultures"[6]

Career

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During her stay in Machakos, Kenya, Trowell carried out research on art and the artistic ability of the Kamba people which led to writing her first book, African Arts and Crafts, published in 1937.[7] As an advocate for formal art education, Trowell promoted the establishment of the School of Art at Makerere University in 1937.[3]

To support her vision for the arts and local participation in art, she alongside Mary Fisher and the African Art society curated and organised The Synod Exhibition (also called the Namirembe Exhibition) between 29 and 30 July 1938.[8] This was meant to be an exhibition of her students' artworks as well as showcasing artefacts from East, Central and West Africa. Baskets, mats, masks, sculptures, and paintings and was celebrated as the "first exhibition of African art" in Uganda.[8][9]

Funded by the colonial administration in 1939, the exhibition subsequently toured London where it was hosted at the Imperial Institute South Kensington, as the "Exhibition of Ugandan Arts and Crafts".[8]

Museum curator

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Because of a financial crisis within the colonial administration, a number of ethnological objects were neglected and the collection of the Protectorate Museum was damaged.[10] In 1942, the collection was relocated to the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Art and Trowell then served as the honorary curator until 1945.[11]

While the collection was still housed at the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Art, she along with Klaus Wachsmann, supervised the collection of information and published a catalogue – Tribal Crafts of Uganda – that listed the materials in the ethnological collection.[10]

Within the museum, she also gave lectures focusing on traditional themes such as arts and craftsmanship[12]

Personal life

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Trowell (née Sifton) was married to Hubert Carey Trowell, a physician. His appointment to the Colonial Medical Service prompted the move of the couple to Kenya in 1929 and later to Uganda upon transfer in 1935.[6][3]

Publications

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  • African arts and Crafts, their development in the school (1937).[13]
  • Tribal Crafts of Uganda (1953)[14]
  • Classical African Sculpture (1964)[15]
  • African Design (1965)[16]
  • African and Oceanic Art (1968)[17][18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts | Makerere University". 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  2. ^ "The Makerere Art School Through The Ages | Makerere University". 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  3. ^ a b c "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  4. ^ "Exhibition: Pioneer Women of the Arts – African Heritage House". Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  5. ^ "Margaret Trowell's School of Art. A Case Study in Colonial Subject Formation" (PDF). Margaret Trowell's School of Art. A Case Study in Colonial Subject Formationp: 5. ISBN 978-3-03734-666-2.
  6. ^ a b c start (2017-04-05). "Re-reading the Warps and Wefts in Trowell's Mother and Child Print: Debates and Contests". Start Journal. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  7. ^ "The nine pioneer women of East African art". The East African. 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  8. ^ a b c https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/05e984fc-fdaa-4d87-bf7b-327ff6abcbe9/content
  9. ^ start (2012-11-30). "Ugandan Art: From Galleries to Green Lawns and Red Roads". Start Journal. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  10. ^ a b "Boasblogs • The Uganda Museum's Tribal Representation: Colonial Repositories and Community Reconciliation in Uganda". Boasblogs. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  11. ^ "Margaret Trowell and the Development of Art Education in East Africa". Margaret Trowell and the Development of Art Education in East Africa.
  12. ^ Uganda Herald (April 16, 1944). "Uganda Museum Schools Service". Uganda Herald. pp. Vol. L. No. 1745.
  13. ^ "African Arts and Crafts.Their Development in the School".
  14. ^ "Tribal crafts of Uganda".
  15. ^ "Classical African Sculpture".
  16. ^ "African Design".
  17. ^ "Margaret Trowell Books".
  18. ^ "Books by Margaret Trowell".
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