After several years of promoting the work of women artists working in Uganda and the surrounding regions, curator and art historian Martha Kazungu participated in the 2019 Curatorial Intensive in Cape Town; following this experience, she developed a plan for a new arts organization in Kampala.
In 2021, she founded Njabala Foundation in Kampala, Uganda to facilitate opportunities for women artists to be seen, and to campaign against gender inequality in the art world. The organization produces exhibitions, artist residencies, public programs, and other activities aimed at creating safe spaces for female artists to thrive and blossom.
Just a year after its founding, Njabala Foundation hosted ICI's Curatorial Intensive, where an international group of 13 emerging curators participated in seminars, site visits, and mentorship that furthered their careers and drew from the vibrant artistic and intellectual production across the East Africa region.
In 2024, ICI collaborated again with Martha and Njabala Foundation on a six-month mentorship program with six women curators who are based in East Africa, to support a new generation of cultural workers in the region.