Melanistic Magazine - Vol 9

Arts & Culture: Destiny Kirumira

Reconstructing Through Art

Destiny Kirumira is the inaugural recipient of The Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology Momentum Fellowship. Her artistic work intersects with her study of architecture as she dismantles and relearns whitecentered teachings around architecture; a process of reshaping the interplay of her Blackness with architecture. Her upbringing crosses continents, with German, Ugandan and Canadian influences, and while her affinity for art seems to thread throughout her childhood, she traces her introduction to architecture to a vivid memory of her mother showing her the drawings of a church. “ I was so excited by the power I saw in design that I decided then and there that I would aspire to become an architect”.

A 2019 study revealed that Black women make up only 0.3% of Architects. Destiny shares her thoughts on working in an underrepresented field in the midst of heightened awareness around diversity and inclusion:

“I have always felt some kind of pressure as a Black woman especially since I have been in white male dominated fields my entire academic career. Being the only Black woman in all of the spaces I traverse, has truly only meant that my performance (whether academically or socially) is always critically measured and meant to instruct white people on how they should treat me and other Black women. I would say that during this time of a heightened interest in diversity and inclusion, I only feel this pressure more. The fact that Black women represent 0.3% of those in the field isn’t shocking or jarring. It is intentional. It is hard to imagine how each of us, in our own, all white spaces, are forced to navigate anti-blackness and sexism alone. It has been an isolating and tiring experience for myself, and I imagine it has been so for many others.”

“My existence in the field is special in two ways: yes, because I’m a Black woman and we are rarely allowed in these professions and because I challenge the field to reinvent itself. True architects and designers would be able to recognize that that is the inherent value of my work.”

ig: @destinykirumira @peterrobertsongallery www.probertsongallery.com/

Reflecting on her work as an artist however, Destiny shares:

“A lot of my paintings are trying to address Blackness in hopes of addressing the under- and misrepresentation of Blackness in the artworld and media consumption at large. Most of the experiences I had in my studies in architecture pushed me to create the paintings I’ve made. The field has not seriously created a space for Black architects and students to address the anti-blackness they experience (let alone the sexism) and a lot of my paintings from that time were made in an effort to create a space for myself to discuss the anti-Black racism I was witnessing and experiencing”.

Melanistic Magazine - Vol 9

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