The Uganda art scene is increasingly getting more exciting and rather competitive with each passing month. After the successful launch of the Signature art exhibition – with its pomp and glamour – last year at the Serena Hotel, another artistic event, MishMash, has debuted on the art scene making art lovers and artists again very optimistic about art in Uganda.
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Category: Visual Art
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Art and writing can play a crucial role in the process of psychosocial transformation. Written language has a big influence on all kinds of communication. Also, art has often been described as a universal language, which ability to communicate transcends age, race or colour, educational, religious, political or geographical background. FairPen Uganda Foundation explains how the kids can use to use the pen and the brush during elections.
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Uganda’s visual art scene, like the country’s history, has been through turbulent times. In this feature Harry Johnstone explores the evolution of visual art in Uganda. Harry examines Uganda’s historical differences with other regions in Africa, visual artists’ reaction to post-independence political struggle as well as the work of several contemporary artists.
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Art criticism and art history are in-exclusive of each other. In art-making, the artist usually produces a visual statement which in turn becomes the subject-matter for a response or reaction from the observer. In this sense, a work of art may be considered a language.
Read Dr. Abel Diakparomre’s article about this matter.
Sanaa Gateja is an artist truly designed for the 21st century. His ideologies of creativity are spot on the current global consciousness. Making art by recycling man-made waste materials. Empowering craftswomen all around Uganda by sharing his skills of beadmaking. Continuously improving his artwork or jewellery by constantly innovating. And combining art forms as different as music, fashion accessories, interior decor and visual art to express a holistic milieu where authentic African culture can be experienced. Not bad for a man whose artistic journey started in the late sixties.
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Henry Mzili Mujunga shows you, step-by-step, how to do Woodcut Printmaking using a Dark-to-Light Technique. Woodcut prints are usually strong, simple designs in monochrome or in just a few colors. Because of this, woodcuts have the advantage of being easy to reproduce, which made them a popular form of illustration before modern printing methods. Click here to learn how to print dark-to-light.
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“If I were a wealthy artist, I would buy all the second hand vehicles stocked away in bonded warehouses around Kampala and turn them into a massive mobile art installation. Do not ask me for details of the project for that would most likely lead to plagiarism.” Henry Mzili Mujunga speaks out.
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We believe that Ugandan art is already interesting and that the real issue is one of making the art more accessible to both the national and international markets. The original concept for setting up Signature Art was to create a non-for
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Art needs patronage. This could be provided by people of modest income who buy art on a regular basis to decorate their spaces and to use as gifts. These abound on the Ugandan art scene. But how useful are these art buyers to an industry that demands major capital injection for its growth?
In this article, Henry Mzili Mujunga questions the role of the corporate sponsors of Arts in Uganda.