“There were a number of magical moments in the World Music showcase by Joel Sebunjo and Ismaël Lo on Friday. One was watching Sebunjo play the opening kora-solo to ‘Nakato’. Another one was hearing Ismaël Lo sing ‘Tajabone’, alone on stage with his guitar.” Serubiri Moses mediate on African music – “One must be able to feel the spirit of a people through music.”
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Author: start
“I am convinced that it is not too late to use our rich cultural heritage and artistic minds to transform Uganda socially and economically. It can still be realized if we persist, mind our business, make use of the available creativity and, most importantly, dare to fail! I am calling upon those that are blessed with creativity and creative minds to dare: To fail, to flop, to move further, in the interest of paving the way for a creative and prospering Uganda.” Faisal Kiwewa of Bayimba Cultural Foundation writes for startjournal.org.
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Between 8 December 2011 and 8 January 2012 the Institute of Heritage Conservation and Restoration hosted the 100 Posters for the Right to Education Exhibition to celebrate the International Human Rights Day. In this essay Dr. Angelo Kakande analyse a selection of posters to expose the visual and legal issues behind the right to education in Uganda and the point at which the exhibition intersected with this right.
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Urban dance can comfortably be twinned with contemporary dance. Any number of styles will combine to bring out an important message as was exhibited in the Breaking Free production on a cool Kampala evening on January 14. “Hip hop and dance potentially hold the key to the next stage in the development of the arts in Uganda. More productions in the mold of Breaking Free will be needed. And the public will have to be nudged in the right direction by experts in the area.” Steven Tendo reviews for Startjournal.org.
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“With a host of art spaces and projects springing up, all designed to foster creativity, innovation and experimentation of the arts, and extending art to the local people, art in Uganda is evolving in a new direction.” Dominic Muwanguzi has visited Weaver Bird Arts Community, Fasfas Art Café, 32° East and more new art venues.
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“As Ugandan artists, we must ask ourselves whether we should strive to make our work more relevant to our communities and if so, how. Some would argue that it is enough that the work is relevant to the artist, and if it is coupled with genuine creativity, will automatically become relevant to the rest of society. My hope is that we can all engage in this discussion of what art can and cannot do for us as individuals and as a society. The public debate on the value of the arts and humanities must become a deeper and more intelligent one.” Ugandan author Doreen Baingana reviews last year’s Dance Transmission.
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Afrigo Band chose to celebrate its 36th anniversary during this season bringing up reminiscences we had comfortably bid goodbye to. The next stop was Watoto church on 18th December who had a Christmas presentation themed ‘One child’. Post Christmas, 27th December, had the pragmatic David Nsaiga at the Serena Garden roof top staging a show dubbed “Christmas peroxide”. Elizabeth Namakula reviews.
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Next out in the category the Story Behind an Artwork, we have interviewed one of the leading contemporary Ugandan artists, Joseph Ntsensibe, about his work ‘Disappearing Forests’ (2011). Read about why and how Ntensibe created this one piece of art which responds to the topic ‘environmental protection’.
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In this article writer Paul Brickhill, who has 30 years experience from African cultural development, tries to understand the dynamics of creative economy in Africa and draws conclusions towards appropriate development strategies.
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The current generation of recording artists and performers of Ugandan music is one that has not been talked about much. This could be in fact, that there is very little in terms of music to speak of. You could summarize an entire decade of music in just a few sentences; very little music has been produced in the last 20 or so years which has gotten the entire country talking about an issue, an epidemic or even a political regime. Serubiri Moses analyses originality.
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“As an artist Geoffrey Mukasa was never afraid to take on new challenges; he taught us to be bold and courageous. He straddled the past and the present and his contribution to the young subject of contemporary art in Uganda has been immense. Mukasa stretched the borders of painting beyond the expected, and deservedly; today he is celebrated as a leading Ugandan painter of the 20th century who was key in raising the profile of art in Uganda. Mukasa’s legacy will continue to reverberate across the country and beyond for many years to come.” Dr. George Kyeyune reviews the recent Mukasa-exhibition at AKA Gallery (Tulifanya).
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Maurice Kirya at This is Uganda, 2011. Photo by Will Boase (www.willboase.com). All rights reserved.
Is this really Uganda?
The idea of a festival of the arts in the Ugandan sun was welcomed. Like others themed alike, This Is Uganda was expected to celebrate the Uganda free spirit in all cultural senses. In its second year, TIU shows it has set out to celebrate a different culture. Even when the organisers expected the event to be endorsed by a big number of revelers, at the end they were not happy with the turnout. At this rate, TIU might need to change tack in the next edition.
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At this year’s This Is Uganda-festival young people shared ideas, promoted their artistic merchandise and learnt a thing or two about culture. Some came to see, some came to feel, other came to show off. There were simple art projects with global consequences, but was there a real message? Henry Mzili Mujunga reviews the arts and crafts at TIU 2011.
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“The time has finally arrived that Africa begin to look to Africa for answers. We are starting to think about making East Africa our market place. But we can not go far without drastically improving the quality of our products. For too long we have made inefficient production schedules and products. On the other hand, a myriad of questions are raised to which answers cannot be immediately found. Still, these questions must be asked and answered if our art is to grow into the cultural void in which we find ourselves.” Ugandan visual artist SANE reflects on the East African Art Summit.
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This writers’ residency, organised by Femrite (Uganda Women Writers Association) in partnership with The Swedish Institute, is the first of its kind in Uganda. On the whole, it has been a successful endeavour. For the year 2010 it was held in Jinja. It attracted participants from Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, and of course Uganda. The fruits from the 2010-series are documented in a publication by Femrite: ”World of Our Own”. This short story collection was launched on November 24th 2011. Lillian A. Aujo reviews.
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Start has succeeded in establishing an arts journal writing in-depth articles about the Ugandan art scene. We have kept our frequency and given around fifty independent writers a site to express themselves thoroughly about the arts. We have kept the variety in types of articles; the reviews, the interviews, the investigation and the more promotional story. But we still have a long way to go.
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In this article Angelo Kakande shows and argues that as representations of life in Kampala, Kyeyune’s paintings are not portraits of individuals or groups. They are in the first place art. In the second, they are sanitised versions of reality intended to suit middle class and tourist aesthetic tastes. In the third place, they carry the risks of pandering to state propaganda.
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Ceramics is a cultural tradition with millennia of history, and the ceramics show that opened on November 4th at the Makerere University Art gallery was about breaking old barriers and pushing back new ones. Combined with a flair for suspension, it was bolder and even more exciting than the last ceramics exhibition at the same venue.
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With the likes of Xenson and his contemporaries like Stella Atal and Latif, the Uganda fashion flag is flying high and whoever thought the fashion boom in Uganda could end pretty soon, is in for a shocker. “Fashion is a journey. I wanted to create something and leave the interpretation to the people. I wanted my clothes to speak for themselves and I believe they did,” explained an exhausted Xenson after the show.
Read More >>“To stand out and become significantly successful, we need to step out of our comfort zones and question how much effort we are really making to help the creative arts industry boom. We all share the goal of developing the industry into one that truly represents Ugandan talent and makes everyone proud.” Startjournal.org has invited Kiwewa Faisal of Bayimba Cultural Foundation to write his opinions about Ugandan arts and culture.
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