Born in Kampala in 1985 and now based in Brooklyn, Leilah Babirye creates commanding sculptures from hand-carved and charred wood, glazed ceramics, metal and salvaged objects. Bicycle chains, gears, wire and inner tubes become elaborate crowns, jewellery and hair. Her figures draw on the visual languages of masks, totems and Buganda clan structures, while recasting materials dismissed as debris into emblems of dignity. Through this process of reclamation, Babirye celebrates queer and trans lives and addresses the violence and exclusion faced by LGBTQ+ communities in Uganda and across Africa.
Babirye studied sculpture and art history at Makerere University before leaving Uganda and later receiving asylum in the United States. Her work has appeared at the Venice Biennale, the de Young Museum, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and in major public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hammer Museum. In 2026, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston presents Embaga ya Naki ne Naki (Wedding of Naki and Naki), a new sculptural installation imagined as a queer wedding. Ceramic and wood figures take on ceremonial roles, surrounded by ancestors and relatives, turning the gallery into a vivid celebration of chosen family, continuity and collective freedom.