Simma Africa Creative Arts Foundation
Art as a form of Resistance. Art for mental wellness and social-economic development. A platform for 384+ creative artists from refugee settlements, key population and marginalised communities, centring women, native languages, and decolonial knowledge production.
The Journey
Supported by CIPESA · Internet Freedom Forum
Supported by HIVOS East Africa
Simma Africa Creative Arts Foundation
Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR)
About the Festival
In the language of the Banyankole, a Bantu people of Western Uganda, "Ntare" celebrates the Lioness for her strength, cunning, hunting skills, prowess, and Roar. This festival elevates the voices of Femxle Creative Artists in East Africa. They are the Lionesses of our time.
We are here to celebrate and elevate queer refugee and indigenous creative artists in Africa. Art is the story of creatives, it's how we express ourselves, how we show love, and communicate our fears and dreams. Art is not just our language. It's who we are. ART is our DNA.
The festival celebrates intersectionality of different cultures, nationalities and art forms, fostering cross-generational artistic collaboration, archiving folk songs and tales, and creating market platforms for goods and services produced by refugee and marginalised creative communities.
From the Archives
4th Edition, Uganda, December 2025
