In 2007, when Start Magazine covered the story of Mona Studio, there was an air of great expectations for the cause of young artists working together. It was a case of two charismatic artists slowly but surely etching their way into an indifferent community in Kamwokya, a suburb of Kampala city. Edison Mugalu and Anwar Nakibinge were forging an art collective to make an impact on the local community. And they almost pulled it off, but for the ignorance of one major factor at play in any alliance; the divergence of vested interests.

Testament to the strength and innovation of Uganda’s artistic community, the Controversial Art Exhibition at Kampala’s Afriart Gallery sought to challenge traditional perceptions of African art. Henry Mzili Mujunga’s catalogue text, Finding the Controversy, offers an insight into the premises of this exhibition. Here he boldly exclaims that the work of “the true heroes of Ugandan art” could be found in this small, yet adventurous display. And he was right.

He has just finished the works for a new exhibition. This time he depicts the old walls, the street corners and narrow alleys of Zanzibar’s Stone Town. He is giving us an impression of the past days, and every brushstroke intends to teach us more about where we came from. Editor Thomas Bjørnskau talks to Edison Mugalu about his journey to become one of Uganda’s best-selling visual artists.

The exhibition ‘Material Evolution: Ugandan Bark Cloth’ at the University of North Texas featured international artists and designers who create artistic works and everyday functional items from bark cloth, focusing on creating sustainable and environmentally friendly design solutions from a centuries-old process. Startjournal talks with curator Lesli Robertson.

“Artists and the Ugandan art industry should be more responsive to what Ugandans like to relate to in terms of their culture, history of the country and current affairs. They should take an example from the music industry…musicians are doing very well in capturing what people want to hear. “
A Q&A with art collector Kaddu Sebunya of USAID-STAR.

He is the self dubbed Ugandan Youssou N’dour from the kind of music he plays. Joel Sebunjo is the mediator between two worlds that seemed incompatible artistically and he is taking this job very seriously. Samuel Lutaaya met up with him at the National Theatre to get a peek into what makes him the artist that he is.

Look forward to a new online edition of Start – A Journal of Arts and Culture. There are lots of Arts events happening in Uganda these months, and Start will once again host the informal meeting place, Start First Sundays, at Cayenne April 3rd at 6pm.

If you visited any of Uganda’s largest art galleries last year, you would see that the exhibitions were almost exclusively by male artists. Why is that the case? Startjournal has interviewed Lilian Nabulime, Venny Nakazibwe, Sarah Nakisanze and Jana Twinomugisha in search of reasons.

Rose Kirumira is one of Uganda’s most known artists abroad. Her willingness to live and work abroad has been defining her artistic career. The hunger for exposure to other cultures and inspiring visual artists has brought her to Zambia, Botswana, California, the Netherlands, Canada, China, Sweden and Denmark. Her message to fellow artists is unambiguous. ”Go out, meet other artists, talk to them and discuss art. Think of yourself as explorers. You will love moving to new places and exploring different cultures.”

This year the joint faculty exhibition at Makerere University’s Fine Arts Department ”Different but One” celebrates its 15th year. Startjournal.org would like to honour 15 of the inspiring faculty artists by displaying 15 artworks from the current exhibition. Please enjoy and comment their work.

In Startjournal.org’s series of Creative Techniques, artist and lecturer Lilian Nabulime shows you step-by-step how to carve a wood relief so you can create a wooden 2D-sculpture. Wood relief carving has been an art form since ancient times. In relief carving, figures or objects are carved into a flat piece of wood. The general process for relief carving involves removing wood so that the carved object appears to rise out of the wood itself.

The Weaver Bird Artist’s Village in Masaka is an attempt to develop a momentous centre for contemporary visual arts in Uganda. The founders believe bringing together artists’ workshops and residencies, community arts centre, handicraft projects, youth cultural troupes and children’s library will make the village tick. Encounter the ideas and discuss their future in this article.

The Sons of the Master is the title of the upcoming contemporary visual arts exhibition at the International School of Uganda (Entebbe Rd). The official opening of the exhibition is planned on March 18th 2011 at 6pm. The exhibition pays respect to Tingatinga painter David Mzuguno, who passed away last year. His four children, Rashid, Juma, Kipara and Mchana Mzuguno, have inherited their father’s talent, and they are now preparing their biggest exhibition so far.

Welcome to the third online edition of Start – A Journal of Arts and Culture. We are now officially a monthly journal. Please join us at Cayenne at 6pm March 6th, to meet like-minded and to discuss the East African arts scene. This time we will bring some art works for an informal review.