Finding unity in music and dance

Milton Wabyona, founder of Uganda Heritage Roots, an organisation that uses Ugandan traditional music, dance and folklore to rehabilitate street children, believes that nothing unites people like music and dance, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

A resolve to make it against all the odds is never in vain. That’s the conviction you get after hearing Milton Wabyona’s life story. It’s a story of a boy who lost his parents as a child and whose struggles made him realise early that to excel would propel him to a better destiny.

Milton Wabyona

An unlikely path
Indeed it is academic excellence that earned him a scholarship at Hoima High School. But after S.4, it seemed the end of the road-no tuition to proceed to high school. He became a fisherman in Lake Victoria but gave up a year later, returning home in Hoima, to dig.

One bright mid-morning, while riding his bicycle to the market, he chanced upon an audition session for traditional dancers. He auditioned and won his place in the African Village Cultural Dance Group.

It was the beginning of real promise in the life of the lad, a promise that began to take shape when one of his trainers advised the lanky orphan to consider pursuing music and dance professionally.

Picking the cue, he borrowed high school text books and took to assiduous reading. It had been his childhood dream to become an engineer but in the circumstances he decided studying arts was the easy way to a better future. In 1997, he sat for his UACE examinations, scored 13 points, and eureka - was admitted on government sponsorship for a diploma in music, dance and drama at Makerere University!

His adroitness as a dancer and leader was spotted by Ndere Troupe who snatched him up. Meanwhile he got a first class diploma, and was immediately sent to Norway on a cultural exchange program, in which he facilitated workshops for people with mental problems –what’s called rehabilitation theatre.

“My stint in Norway made me realise the potential in me as a performing artist, and the potential of the performing arts to transform distressed lives,” he says.

On returning in 2000, Wabyona embarked on a fully sponsored bachelors’ degree in music, graduating three years later with another first class.

Making a difference in lives
He stepped into the world focused on using his experience and knowledge to touch lives. He registered the Uganda Heritage Roots (UHR), an organisation that uses Ugandan traditional music, dance and folklore to rehabilitate street children and other disadvantaged young people that have had the misfortune of living without a proper home.

“We get these rejected and dejected children and train them to fit in the social cultural setup of the Ugandan society; bringing them to a point of self-belief; that they are capable of using their skills to change their lives for the better. Some have gone on to start their own groups like Peace Children Africa,” says Wabyona.

You probably have seen them performing at state functions, the most recent being at Heroes Day where they were the main entertainment group alongside the UPDF. And last year, these children collaborated with Mileage Jazz Band in a performance at Serena Conference Centre, and have presented before international audiences in China, Norway and the United States.

“I’ve learnt that nothing unites people like music and dance,” says Wabyona. “There are no wounds that cannot be healed by a combination of ekizino of Kigezi, laraka-raka of the Acholi to Bakisimba from Buganda among other traditional dances.”

He is happy that traditional music and performance is fast out-competing western music at weddings and other functions, which translates to more earnings and a better life for the composers and performers.

Award winner
And because of his work, Wabyona won a Ford Foundation fellowship and is mastering music composition and performance at the University of Kansas.

Some of the members of Uganda Heritage Roots, during a rehearsal

“I’m using western music art to apply to our music so it can fit in a wider setting,” he says.

“A conscious family man married to the world’s prettiest woman, Naomi, ” Wabyona believes his life is a miracle from God without whom he would not have achieved as much, and became a born-again Christian to show his appreciation. His belief in God is so entrenched that he has turned the classic Christian hymn, Abide with Me, into the group’s prayer before and after rehearsals.

--Sunday Monitor, July 31, 2011

Ssajjabbi’s Art inspires poetry

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Solo exhibitions at the national gallery are as rare as self-taught artists based upcountry coming to exhibit there. But on Friday April 3, Ssajjabbi Edward Kamugisha changed that with a grand opening at Nommo Gallery of an art exhibition that will close on April 30, 2009.

Some of Uganda’s finest fine artists, students of art, and art enthusiasts were there to witness the collection of artworks from the Kabale-born and based artist, under the theme, The Moments I Love. Ssajjabbi’s art is gentle, luminous and quite charming. He captures life in motion: women going to the garden, children playing, animals in the wild, plants, and the serenity of nature. Outstanding among the 50 artworks on display is Survival of the Fittest, depicting an old man sculpting a wooden cup. It’s a captivating artwork infused with a hidden message: a real man must earn his living.

Woman of Kigezi is a painting of a woman, child on the back, basket on her head, and hoe on her shoulder. The other women and children in the background give it vividness that reminds one of the hardworking village women we often met on their way to the garden on our way to school.

At the Quarter Guard shows four beautiful crested cranes in a graceful match while Big Bums is a painting of zebras. One cannot forget the facial expression in the painting of a man playing his lute; it’s an expression that fills your heart with a longing for good music, the kind your great grandfather must have played by the fireside many years ago.

All these works were inspired by real life experiences, and the 45-year-old artist admits he’s an unrelenting naturalist and realist that goes to the field everyday to study people, plants, animals, stones, birds, and generally nature.

I’ve interviewed many artists who seem to worship the distinct touch of Maria Naita and Taga Nuwagaba. I’ve seen their works; quite distinct, but none have had a profound effect on me like the works of this relatively unknown artist.

Ssajjabi, who has participated in several local and international exhibitions, and is among the few Ugandans to have held a solo exhibition at October Gallery, the prestigious London gallery, has inspired many Ugandan artists including Roland Tiburusya. “His art sparked off the zeal I have about painting,” says Tiburusya.

“He’s the finest painter; so philosophical with feelings, has a spirit of nationalism, and a deep sense of admiration of beauty, glamour and style in his paintings and drawings.”

He uses oil on canvas, water colour, and then oil pastels on canvas, but it’s a combination of realism in his compositions, dynamism with motion, the expression of emotions and the mastery of his colour schemes that make his creations different.

And art lover Loyce Kwikiriza was influenced by Ssajjabi’s works to write poetry. In one, she writes, “Your talent is unlimited as you touch every heart with emotions untold…you open the world to us with scenes of life’s realities…the animals, the mountains, the hotsprings, the toils of men, the burdens reaches its core ....”

--Sunday Monitor, April 19, 2009

Women art reveals much at Makerere

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Women are more determined than ever to use all means available to drum up for equality
This much is clear, judging by the intensity of the several pieces in an ongoing art exhibition at Makerere Art Gallery. The exhibition, which closes on April 15 but was opened on March 20 to commemorate Womens’ Day, attracted some of the country’s finest female artists.

On display are the cryptic, the beautiful and the austere; all forms of small and big paintings and drawings that attempt to portray the fortitude of the Ugandan woman.

The pieces arouse critical interest because they transcend the obvious girly style of feminine colours and soft tonalities. Their art has so peaked and taken on a demanding element with themes that carry an urgent message.

Such titles like “We are also significant,” “Movers of the world” and “The Struggle begins”, reflect the fears that still grip the Ugandan woman, but also the belief in themselves, and how unfazed they remain in the pursuit of equal rights.

Maria Naita’s “Education is the ladder” and another painting of a little girl with an encouraging note: “Go girl, believe in you and whoever you dream to be,” are some of the pieces that capture the theme of the exhibition – “Increasing Investment in Girls’ Education as a Prerequisite for Development”.

According to exhibitor, Sarah Nakisanze, a woman is “mother earth, a package of knowledge”. Then there’s Jessica’s black and white drawing titled “Child Mother”.
It shows a child passionately suckling its mother’s breast. And a note next to the small framed piece says the 17-year-old artist “hopes that through her art the heart of God opens”.

The viewer might have a good laugh finding a piece titled “Gossip Time” considering that women are viewed as big gossips. There are other adorable ones like Donald Nantagya’s sketches of dancing girls, and a framed portrait that says “a praying mum profits much” and Felix Lubega’s “Mother and Child” in which he used banana fibre on board for the best effect.

The paintings are supplemented with newspaper cuttings of articles on women empowerment, the strength of women and pro girl-child education.

The board in one corner of the gallery shows what intriguing expressionists our women have become, for it’s littered with lucid quips, giving away a great deal about the intimacy, the trust, the love, and all the good things about women, while presenting men as highly chauvinistic and unrepentant subjugators. Overall, the exhibition makes it crystal clear that Uganda’s female artists have learnt to distil their experiences and capture them with a brush on canvas, seducing the world into having a deeper interest in them.

The exhibition is organised by the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts and Gender Mainstreaming Division, Makerere University.

--Sunday Monitor, April 12, 2009

Let art beautify your home

Many people are turning to visual arts to style up their rooms, houses or hotels, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

That age when individuals would liven their rooms with newspaper cuttings of beautiful women, cars, or their favourite actors, writers, and musicians, is quickly fizzling out. many people are turning to visual arts to style up their rooms, houses or hotels.
Ugandan fine artists have risen to the occasion not only by creating more stunning works (as seen at exhibitions and in their studios), but have also reached out to find market for their artistic works in homes and restaurants, and among individuals whose sense of style continues to advance with modernity. As a result, art pieces of all forms and designs are the decorative accessories that have become part and parcel of living rooms, the interior of banks, schools, and offices.

You need to visit such places like the Kampala SerenaHotel, Antonio’s Grill on Pioneer Mall or a friend you haven’t visited in a long while, to get the picture.
Hanging on the walls of Speak Out Restaurant in Nakulabye are little but very beautiful abstract pieces that absorbed me as I waited to be served. Baker Matovu, the proprietor, said many of his customers love the pieces and often ask him where he bought them.

Ugandan painter Juma Lubega, who has created many of the art pieces that colour the interior of Antonio’s Grill, says he gets many people asking him to visit and paint walls of their rooms.
Oh yes, art on walls can be beautiful. You must know this if you have seen ‘Vertebrates and Invertebrates’ – the pair of mosaic panes on the façade of the Zoology Department at Makerere University, or the bright decorations on the face of Tropical Bank in the city centre.

“The rising popularity of art as décor lies in its uniqueness of beauty and the lovely ambience it adds to a room or place,” says interior designer Lillian Asiimwe.

She however says to be careful to rhyme the artworks with the wall colour and the place one wants to decorate – be it the living room or the bedroom. Asiimwe says using art as décor tells a great deal about the personality or style of the individual.

Some prefer intricate designs, others landscapes or paintings of animals or plants on their walls; depending on one’s taste and style. She advises against putting so many pieces put up lest you turn your beautiful place into an art gallery of sorts. Whatever the case, no longer should your room look boring in this age.

Go ahead and turn to decorative arts, but don’t forget to strike a balance in the range of the artworks used, and the colour. Therein is the secret to having a vividly attractive and romantic place.

--Sunday Monitor, April 5, 2009

Painting women is his speciality

In the world of Ugandan painter, Yusuf Ssali, the woman is everything, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

It’s the first impression I got on finding paintings of all kinds of women colouring the walls of his studio in Nakulabye.

“Many have told me I’m obsessed with women,” he admits with a smile. “It’s true I like painting women. The beauty, tenderness and loveliness of women; their expressions, the stories they tell and the activities they do – these are things from which I draw most of my inspiration as an artist.”

“At the university, most of my academic projects were on women, so I could draw them half-naked or nude,” he says, adding quickly however, that he’s no pervert. True to his word, no painting of his, at least on display, has the temperament or look of someone that evokes immoral thoughts.

I got the feeling that the tricky but very bright decorations in most of his paintings do help in some way to enhance the action therein: a child on the back, women in motion, laughing or dancing, all fall in between realism and abstract, creating some suspense.

It’s achievable, says Ssali, because he has learned much from participating in international joint exhibitions in Los Angeles, Brussels, Netherlands, France, Tanzania, and Kenya, as well at Nommo Gallery.

He also confesses to spending a bulk of his time studying human anatomy, saying it’s mandatory for any artist dealing in figures: “You have to know how the bones move, and if someone turns a certain way, how the body reacts. ”

Ssali’s journey as an artist began taking shape in secondary school, where he took to art eagerly, and in his long vacation, started earning from it by designing signposts and wall-painting.

He pursued it further at Makerere University, where, he says he became the first student to hold an exhibition. For his pains, he got a commission from Coca-cola for a painting entitled Uganda, which he says sold at Shs15.4m. That was in 2005.

During the Independence Day exhibition at Nommo Gallery last year, Ssali’s painting was, about the irony and absurdity of commemorating independence when in actual sense, according to the artist, we have never fully become free.

The painting shows two cocks: white and black; the former which represents the colonial master is free, and the black cock which symbolises Africa, has its beak padlocked.

Ssali’s most famous painting however, is called Ancient Period, about the customs and traditions of the Buganda Kingdom. It shows tongues of fire, a spear, and a face of a woman decorated with collage on bark cloth.

“Although Ssali has not yet painted the Ugandan equivalent of the Mona Lisa by Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci, he works on, believing thus: “One day someone will come and say, ‘I’ve been missing this kind of art in Uganda and I’m glad I’ve found it!’

--Sunday Monitor, March 29, 2009

Advocating for girl child education through art

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Deserve the best is the title of a painting by Ugandan artist Yusuf Ssali. Two women have just given birth and several others have come to celebrate. The painting, which is on display among others in the ongoing women’s exhibition at Nommo Gallery, vividly captures the role of women in the continuity of the life circle.

The exhibition opened on Saturday under the theme, “Developing creative skills through girl-child education.” It was organised to celebrate Women’s Day through visual and artistic impressions. Incidentally, it’s the first time in the 13 years this annual exhibition has been running, that male artists have been allowed to exhibit.

“Originally, we were exhibiting only women but later on we found that men are also gender sensitive and therefore they should also be given a chance to give out their views through art on such exhibitions,” said Nommo Gallery manager, Jacqueline Ampaire.

A smart move it was, because the male exhibitors, with a clear grasp of the importance of this day to the Ugandan woman, brought in original works that ideally present women as deserving adoration, love, affection, or as Yusuf aptly put it, “the very best.”

Titled, I can handle, Juma Lutalo’s semi-abstract piece for example shows a woman with one eye closed and the other open “meaning that even when ladies are kept backward, they still have the insight and patience to handle most of all the family problems.” Lutalo plays a bit with colour patterns – mixing blue, yellow and red to depict the coolness of ladies; yellow to mean they are bright, and red to mean they also have blood like other human beings and should be treated as their male counterparts.”

But not all the displayed creations by male artists are on women. Henk Jonker, a Dutch artist who has lived here long enough to (artistically) comment on our city life, couldn’t miss out.

“Street life makes beautiful painting,” he said of his work, which shows the old park, complete with the boda-bodas, the buildings, billboards and generally the busy activity there. “Old Kampala the way it used to be in 1994 is kind of disappearing and this (the painting) is going to live forever, so I made the painting of the old city to preserve it,” said Henk. “10 years from now some people can refer to my work.”

To live up to the theme of the exhibition, the organisers worked with three schools: Greenhill Academy, Mengo SSS and St. Lawrence Creamland, from which five girls each were picked to show off their dexterity with the painter’s brush. The results are not far from amazing.

From Greenhill, Alison Nadunga’s creation titled “Standing firm”, is a striking painting of a lady carrying a bundle of firewood, a baby on her back, books, and a pencil in one hand.

“I wanted to intermarry culture, hard work and education because we can’t say girl education is about books only,” said the 18-year-old artist.

--Sunday Monitor, March 22, 2009

Art provokes emotion at Makerere

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

The guests moved about admiring the works of art in different ways. They smiled, they whispered, they nodded, with some staring long and silently. It was the deep language of art provoking varied emotions during the grand opening of the month-long exhibition at the Makerere University Art Gallery on Friday.

Entitled Different But One, this annual exhibition has been running for 13 years in a row. It started in 1996 when a visiting Israeli artist, Rivka Uziel, who was giving voluntary lectures at Makerere University School of Industrial and Fine Arts, fell in love with the “beautiful art gallery” there.

“I thought of doing something with the lecturers but they said it was very difficult; that artists don’t work together. And I said let’s try,” says Rivka.

Thus Different But One was seen as the best sticker that captures the idea of different lecturers coming together to showcase their works in a joint exhibition. Rivka says the first exhibition had only 15 contributors whose enthusiasm inspired her to retain the idea and take it to a higher level. And for 13 years, she’s been coming to curate this exhibition.

The exhibitors write about their works, and that information is contained in a colourful catalogue which is distributed in different art libraries and museums. This year’s theme is Personal Choice, inspired by the maturity the exhibition has attained over the years.

“It takes maturity and balanced judgement on the part of the artist to make a personal choice about his or her chosen work for the exhibition,” says Rivka. “It’s a tough choice because artists love all their works in the same way parents love all their children.”

The artists cleaned and painted the gallery before they hang up their pieces. Nowhere else is such exhibition by a group of art lecturers known. As the dean, Dr George Kyeyune said, the exhibition is now firmly entrenched in the consciousness of the shool and encourages artists to “think and continue on this right path.”

On display are 23 paintings and sculptures; a variety of forms and designs in as many colours and on many topics all by fine art lecturers who are not in competition with one another, as the Dean said, but “complement each other.”

Looking at the richness and general quality of the work, one dares to say the exhibitors are the cream of artists in Uganda. They included Dr Kyeyune himself with his painting of Daily Life inspired by the din of peri-urban life and “the sprawl of market activities” where “everything looks chaotic yet life goes on.”

Even Dr Lillian Nabulime, famed for wood and metal sculptures that capture gender inequalities and the plight of women living with HIV/Aids in developing countries, is exhibiting. And so is Rivka Uziel. In her small landscape pieces called Colourful Music, she marries the elements of music and colour by creating cheerful paintings that capture “the sound of music” and effectively reveal her passion for colour, form and music.

“Music you can’t touch but you can listen,” she says, “and in my works, I translate the music to paintings - my way of expression, my feelings for my work - they are like music, like dancing. And I love colours. I think that colours are the kind of language the artist has to know very well and use for his own purpose.”

In searching for “a new voice” and to echo the theme of the exhibition, Margaret Nagawa’s three paintings are aptly titled My Choice. “I seek to operate within,” she writes in the catalogue, “yet outside boundaries and expectations both of the physical canvas space and society.”

Her works show how much her style has changed, and Gen. Elly Tumwine, who has been attending the exhibition since it started, was impressed. “She (Nagawa) never used to paint some nets on the canvas,” he said. “That’s why I like coming here because every time you see something different: styles, techniques and new ideas; and I get inspired to do even better.”

Nagawa, like the other exhibitors, are showcasing works they feel; their own art, which has influenced many including Rivka, who confesses she’s inspired by the “immense talent of Ugandan artists and work that depicts African life and culture.” It’s the originality of the lecturers and passion that their art, which is imbued with calculated messages, generates conversation between the audience and the works.

In his opening remarks, the Makerere University vice chancellor, Livingstone Lubobi, commended the exhibition because it keeps “bringing out new ideas and I think that’s the spirit of progress”, although he also admitted he doesn’t understand most of the work. It’s understandable.

Many people find art very enigmatic and difficult to comprehend, the reason being they don’t take their time to look at the works keenly, according to Dr Nabulime.

But the view of Sigal Uziel-Karl, the guest of honour and daughter of Rivka, is that you don’t have to understand what the artist means. “You should find in every piece your own self,” she says. “Some of them will move you because you have experienced similar things or you like the colours. But you don’t have to get into the head of the artist.”

Overall, the 13th edition of Different But One, which ends March 20, is unique because the artists were given all the freedom to choose their medium of expression, the materials, and topics.

And so these works are deeply personal and we are given an opportunity to peer into the lives of 23 very learned exhibitors to determine the state of art in Uganda.

--Sunday Monitor, March 1, 2009

Lutalo’s modern art of exaggeration

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

As a child, Juma Lutalo, 23, born in Masaka town, was preoccupied by nothing else but drawing simple objects like houses, cars and boys playing with girls. But it was in August 2007 that the real action started. An art exhibition by renowned Ugandan painter Taga Nuwagaba inspired Lutalo to develop the real art in him.

“As a self-taught artist, I spent restless days and sleepless nights trying to master the movement of the brush and blending of colours,” he says. “This was however not easy because of the expensive art materials so I had to give it a break for some time to look for money elsewhere because I had no support.”

His “hustle” paid off a year later when his first works were accepted in a grand exhibition at Nommo Gallery. “Experienced artists told me I was gifted and it would shine through with more practice and professional guidance,” he says.

With his painter’s eye on the crown that would come with his breakthrough into the industry, Lutalo worked like a horse, drawing and painting all kinds of things. He wanted to be distinguished for his uniqueness and therefore came with an idea of a new style he called “Modern Art of Exaggeration”, in which he relies on different colours to bring out all the small details in his works.

Inspired by the seemingly mundane things that make everyday life interesting, Lutalo’s works capture Africa in all her wonderful beauty; depicting wildlife and nature. He’s afraid the rare species of animals and plants are endangered and he’s preserving them for posterity through art.

In all this, birds have a special place in his soul. It’s the answer to why his favourite painting is that of the African Jacana, which he gives all his creative attention seeing how vividly and impressively he captures it on canvas; the colours, the distinct beak, making it as rare in its look as in its existence.

His sculpture pieces made out of wood, clay and cement, and done in abstract and realistic styles, show the social life of the African man engaged in different activities.

How does he rate Ugandan art? “Ugandan art is good but the problem is that many artistes don’t paint out of passion or to exhaust; they do it – largely – for money,” he says. “What makes it worse is that few Ugandans appreciate art; looking at it as the work of those finding a way to survive.”

Lutalo is however emphatic in saying that his art is not driven by money: “That’s why I spend a lot of time on each of my works to make people appreciate and understand what art is,” he says. “As long as someone tells me the piece is good and he picks the message, I am happy.”

Under his exaggerated art style, Lutalo also tries to promote and advocate for the enforcement of the rights of children and vulnerable women. For example, one of his paintings titled The Power of Blanket is that of children at a camp while another titled I Have to Go shows a woman leaving by the canoe her abusive man.

Lutalo, who has also exhibited at the Makerere University Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, has seemingly done it all where art is involved; sculpture, painting, interior and exterior decorations, sign writing, and portraits. But his distinction, I think, is in his ability to rely on colour to bring out the intricate features in his subjects. Some of Lutalo’s works adorn the interior of Antonio’s Grill at Pioneer Mall in Kampala.

--Sunday Monitor, February 8, 2009

Sculptures colour Valley College compound

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Valley College Bushenyi has spruced its outlook with a couple of sculptures molded out of clay, steel and cement by its art students. Just as you slope to the school, a first time visitor is welcomed by a realistic sculpture of the Biblical Ark of Noah perched on which is a dove clutching a plant with its beak. It vividly captures the school’s motto, "Deliverance."

In the middle of the school compound are other interesting sculptures that carry an educational theme. One of the nameless pieces depicts a uniformed girl and boy engrossed in their books. The other is a bronze sculpture of a girl leaning leisurely on the shoulders of a man. Beneath them are a packet of Rex Cigarettes and an empty bottle of Uganda Waragi. The piece is titled Pleasure At Ease.

A few feet away is another piece with the same characters – they are seated on a tree stump and look old to clearly show that they are long out of school. Their backs are turned on each other; they look forlorn and miserable. Two clear balls of tears are rolling down the girl's face. The piece is now titled No Longer at Ease. The moral of the piece is direct: those who go to school to study but instead play games have no one to blame when many years later thet meet difficulties. It's an artistic story of "you reap what you sow."

And not to be outdone, the founder and director of the school had a life-like iconic sculpture of him complete with his walking stick planted at the school next to his office. It's so real that when I first entered the school compound, I almost thought it was the old man himself. A friend who was taking me around laughed out loud and said it was merely a scarecrow of a sculpture that has scared many unsuspecting truants before.

Besides adorning the school compound and making it look attractive, the Valley College sculptures are an example of how schools can make use of their students in a practically enterprising way and make them leave something behind for which they will be remembered.

--Sunday Monitor, February 1, 2009

Nommo Gallery in a Christmas exhibition

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

On December 11, Uganda's finest artists gathered at Nommo Gallery in a grand opening of a Christmas exhibition that will go on up to January 15, 2009.

From John Odoch's famous metal sculptor, Nilotic Warrior, to Henry Kajubi's Boda Boda, are diverse works that enthusiastically capture the theme of the exhibition, "Art and Culture."

It is the 11th year the national gallery holds this annual event and this time, over 36 artists have come together to reflect on the last 12 months of the year through their artistic touches.

Pieces such as Gilbert Mugabe's Village Labour, Robert Skim's Marry Me, Gilbert Obel's Vanishing Tilapia, Juma Ahimbisibwe's Out minded, to mention a few, show the inevitable linkage between art and culture and how society comes in.

As one of the guests observed, some of the creations on display are clear political statements while others make critical remarks on our moral decadence. From abstract to realism to semi-realistic works, artists largely relied on local materials and now show their deep interest in the society in which they live, and could positively change it.

It was also clear from the different eloquent art forms that long buried is the narrow range of perception when art was only associated with making portraits.

According to Nommo Gallery manager, Ms Jacqueline Ampaire, the exhibition is a showcase of the amazing talent of Ugandan artists and another opening to raise the opportunities of this country through art.

--Sunday Monitor, December 21, 2008

Defending nature through art

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

"We can't survive without nature but nature can survive without us." Those words by Ugandan artist Louis Ssemalulu summarise his resolve to continue advocating for the preservation of the environment through art. From his on-going exhibition at the National Theatre, you can tell that the painter is a man in love, if not obsessed, with nature.


His impressions of waterfalls, forest glades, mountains, crater lakes, clouds in the sky, open savannah and generally flora and fauna, are convincingly captured on large canvases. And when I examined them from a distance, I was amazed at how real they appeared.

Katwe Crater Lake, Bujagali Falls, Botanical Gardens Entebbe and Matada Volcanic Lake are part of the physical features and other scenic spots the painter brings to life in a simple but very impressive style that would appeal to anyone who finds abstract art too sophisticated to comprehend.

"Nature speaks; nature mesmerises me. And as you can see, my favourite theme is Idealistic Landscape," he says. "My concern is the way nature is being defiled and all other greens encroached on by man."

The painter's distaste of environmental abuse is best depicted in one of the paintings showing a typical Ugandan setting; a dusty road on which is a lorry overloaded with sacks of charcoal, with men atop, emitting fumes – which of course are dangerous to human health.

"I'm worried about where we are going with all the global warming, forest fires, floods, poaching, polluted environment and all such things," he says. "And in my work I give people a glimpse of the joys of nature, hoping that my work will convict them to stop corrupting nature."

His paintings also extend to other vulnerable groups in society like the disabled and the children. My Heart Weeps for example, is a moving portrait of a pretty little child wet with tears.

A diploma holder in art and design (specialising in drawing and painting), Ssemalulu says after touring sceneries, it takes him over two weeks to finish a painting: "I don't sketch; I do everything realistically," he says. "I view myself as a simplistic and impressionist kind of painter, and sometimes a romantic because I like experimenting with colours."

You will find it peculiar or interesting, but Ssemalulu paints only at night: "It's calm then and that's when I'm in a state of mind to exercise my calling in the best way I can."

--Sunday Monitor, December 14, 2008

Art for peace

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Tulifanya Art Gallery on Hannington Rd., opposite Crested Towers, is one of the oldest and most active galleries in town, organising exhibitions every month. From mid November to December 10, is an exhibition of 30 paintings by Sudanese artist Ahmed Abushariaa, who has lived here since 2001.

What should pass as Abushariaa’s trademark style is his masterful contrast of bright with darker colours, which shows his inner conflict between peace and war. One of his paintings is bloody red, and others on big canvases capture destruction of innocent lives and war in Darfur.

The bright colours that appear largely in his small paintings depict life in the village and generally show his dreams about the return of peace and calm so that people can live normal lives again.

“I hope one day we shall wake up and there will be no war, terror and fear,” he says. “I support peace in all my paintings.”

Abushariaa studied art at the University of Khartoum and uses water colours and mixed media on the canvas. Sometimes he sticks old newspaper cuttings onto the canvas and draws onto them, and they become part of a painting – a style artists call collage.

Some of the titles of his works, like Symbols of Hope, Oldman’s Story, Dreams of Peace, and Once in the Village show Abushariaa’s concern and connection with society and the people therein.

This year alone, he has participated in three exhibitions in Denmark and two in Germany, not forgetting his present exhibition at Tulifanya. His unique and moving work shows what professional art should look like.

--Sunday Monitor, December 7, 2008

Makerere’s food basket

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

A Ugandan blogger once complained about the weathered sculptures and other artistic pieces that litter the Makerere University Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts courtyard. Visiting there, you honestly wonder why they cannot be spruced up or new ones added to give a fresh look to the surrounding.

It’s not clear if Vincent Kaganda read her blog entry but the 22-year-old third year student of fine art recently invented something he said he would be remembered for, and that would probably inspire future students to take the step too. His invention is a life-size sculpture he put up just opposite the Art Library. Titled “Food Basket”; the sculpture depicts a happy mother holding a basket of fruits.

“Every mother is happiest when she knows she has something to feed her family,” he said with a smile. “She’s holding a basketful of fruits which are a source of vitamins and other nutritious values.” The basket is actually a kisaniya (shallow pan) like the one the roadside chips dealer uses to fry his chips, which the sculptor bought from Kisenyi and welded onto his invention while the said fruits are also metal scraps also welded onto the kisaniya.

“I used scrap metal to show that discarded materials or waste can be useful too,” said Kiganda.” What strikes you most about his work is the smile; very broad, truly motherly and so heart-warming to look at. “Many artists put emphasis on the agony but I chose to capture a big, warm smile symbolising a mother’s love, and to reflect the theme of my sculpture – Happy Mood,” he said.

Under the supervision of Dr George Kyeyune, who is Dean at the School of Industrial and Fine Arts, and Dr Lillian Nabulime, one of Uganda’s acclaimed sculptors, it took Kiganda a fortnight to complete his captivating creation.

He made his armature (the framework that supports a sculpture while it’s being moulded) with metal and iron bars, upon which he added cement which is water resistant and would make his work last.

“Food Basket” is the more colourful because she’s wearing a delightfully greenish dress used by her creator to harmonise with the green grass and the flowery environment.

“Many related sculptures I’ve seen are plain and I decided to introduce the element of colour because I’m also a painter that is used to colours,” said Kiganda. “I also mixed oxide of many colours to get that coffee brown colour of her skin.”

The result of his ingenuity is a three-dimensional (meaning you can walk around it) semi-realistic figure in whom I seemed to recognise the cheerful woman; the avocado seller at the nearby market!

Also a creative art designer and a painter that lives by the slogan “Creativity talks”, Kiganda scored 85 percent for his project and will be remembered for making the area in front of Makerere University Fine Art Library very attractive.

--Sunday Monitor, November 30, 2008

When colour speaks

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Colours, especially red, fascinate and inspire Ugandan painter Fidelis Nabukenya Matovu. “I believe much of the beauty of a painting is decided by colour,” she says.

This explains why her first solo exhibition is codenamed “Colour Speaks.” The exhibition that started on November 5 and ends today was organised in partnership with Alliance Française and Uganda Germany Cultural Society.

All the 22 colourful paintings on display are dominated by red, supported with a shade of white and black. These are paintings that start an inner dialogue with the viewer because the colours are arranged in such a complex yet lively way; the subjects look real yet not real, so you wonder how the painter did it.

It’s something she says she was able to achieve because her work philosophy is that for a painting to be complete, it must touch or move the viewer.

“Come my Beloved,” shows a group of people on a journey. Jesus is depicted in the top corner of the same painting with his benevolent face and open arms and the background is bright - symbolising the beauty in the after life.

“I was thinking of life after death; everybody dreams of going to a better place after death,” said the painter. From her own confession and by looking at her collection, Fidelis is a painter obsessed with hope, love, spirituality, life and death. So she tries, in her work, to capture her understanding of life and its secrets.

You can even tell by the title of her creations. “A Journey Well Travelled” was for example inspired by her deep thoughts on life and she wanted to pass on the simple message that “A life well lived is a journey well travelled.”

The interconnectivity of colours in her paintings and the way the painter distorts her figures yet still manages to achieve that naturalistic effect is in its own way symbolic of the mysteries of this bittersweet life that we lead.

Also, the exhibition shows the painter’s interest in women. But again, the world of womanhood is one she understands best. “I choose to paint women mostly because men tend to hide their feelings a lot and women are expressive and go through a lot,” she explains.

“Emerging Beauty” is a painting of an attractive woman and the backdrop is grim. The simple message behind the painting is that we should always settle for the beauty as opposed to the ugly things.

Another piece shows two curvaceous and wide-hipped women flaunting with pride what God gave them. It’s aptly titled “Showing Off”. Even “No Longer Prisoner”, one of her favourite paintings, shows a woman standing tall and firm.

“She has had a tough past but now she has conquered and is ready to move on,” said the painter, with a glint in her eyes. One distinctive feature about Fidelis’ work is that she concentrates on women’s head gears and their faces, often painting the lips red.

Fidel has all her life been searching for the meaning of life and in her art probes even more the meaning behind everything. And her paintings, though largely semi-abstract, have authentic human appeal.

They cost between Shs70,000 to Shs450,000 - a price she says is determined by the attachment she has over the painting, the message it conveys, the originality, not forgetting the materials used.

It’s interesting that Fidelis, who today is one of Uganda’s top painters, actually majored in sculpture at university.

--Sunday Monitor, November 23, 2008

Uganda’s prolific sculptors in grand exhibition

By DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Ugandan sculptors have not earned the recognition that’s due to them and have for a long time lived in the shadow of artists who specialise in portraiture and other paintings. Saturday was the opening of the Grand Sculpture Exhibition at Makerere University art gallery with the hope that it will change the situation. The exhibition runs up to November 30 and will be an annual event.
On display is a variety of what the gallery administrator, Ms Rita Namayanja, calls the “finest works from the very cream of Ugandan sculptors.”

The artists used natural materials such as wood, bronze, leaves, polythene bags, scrap metal, plastic, glass, and horns to come up with terrific creations, most of which are functional. For example, Isaac Sulah’s Cow Horns is designed to act as fluorescent bulb holders. The light emitted through the softened translucent horns from which it’s created gives out beautifully relaxed radiance.

Henry Ssegamwange’s Look Through is a circular piece made out of bamboo and glass and holds a mirror that every woman would love to have in her dressing room.

Another untitled piece curved out of wood is an idealised representation of all the clans in Buganda and their totems. Geometric lines separate the totems and the lifelike portrait of the Kabaka is included. The piece is large enough and would do great decorating a cultural centre wall.

The exhibitors are experienced sculptors but a few good enough university students were given a chance too. It explains the presence, at the gallery, of the work of Brian Wambi, a student but a master in his own right. His creation, titled Like Margaret Trowell is made out of bronze.

A note on the painting explains that iconic figures in society breath the same air like us, walk the same path, and are as human as we are; that’s why the artist sculpted his portrait with his heroine’s face partially unmasking her skull on the left to prove his point – that you can, if you put your mind to it, achieve like Margaret Trowell, after whom the Makerere University Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts is named.

Koona Dance depicts a dancing couple. Allan Mwebe’s Misery is made out of sponge. Mama Africa has exaggerated lips and Dr. Lilian Nabulime’s curved wooden piece shows a woman with thick red lips and eyes that stare at you unblinkingly. These and more explore the subjects of beauty, revelry, misery, neighbourliness, feminism, disease, and politics that evoke mixed emotions.

Lucus Ogwang, a third year art student, summarised the exhibition: “These sculptures are simply incredible. Their different shapes and their roughness and smoothness represent the sculptors’ unique styles and the messages they are putting across. Anyone interested in art would be inspired!”

--Sunday Monitor, November 16, 2008

So much to learn from Leonardo da Vinci’s world of art

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Is Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) the greatest artist to ever live? What is that quintessential element that made Mona Lisa and the Last Supper his most famous masterpieces?

Mona Lisa is arguably the most talked about portrait of all time and Last Supper is one of the most celebrated paintings worldwide.

Last Supper dramatically depicts that Biblical moment after Jesus informs His 12 disciples that one of them is to betray Him (Matthew 26: 23-25).

The mural wields heavyweight influence that it took some of the best artists 22 years, starting 1977, to clean and scrape away “500 years of dirt, glues, and mold, as well as many layers of overpainting by zealous previous restorers” in order to “preserve what is left of Leonardo’s work”.

But that’s beside the point. The discussion is: what really separated Leonardo da Vinci from the boys? In a 1983 National Geographic article, Carlo Bertelli writes that Leonardo da Vinci was a man after perfection.

That one day, the painter saw a stranger whose eyes bore “a sadness and pathos” he had been struggling to sketch. So he followed him through the streets of Milan until he memorised “the details of the man’s face”, with which he visualised Apostle James as he wanted him on the painting.

Matteo Bandello, a Leonardo contemporary and writer, also wrote that Leonardo “would stay from sunrise till darkness, never laying down the brush, but continuing to paint without eating or drinking. Then three or four days would pass without his touching the work, yet each day he would spend several hours examining it and criticizing the figures to himself.”

Leonardo has been described as “a master of perspective” who “designed the ceiling of the room in his Last Supper; the tabletop and the height of the figures all to give anyone in the dining hall the feeling of dining with Christ and the Apostles.” He preferred intriguing subjects and in the Last Supper, he was captivated by the “concept of betrayal”. That’s why the spotlight in the painting is on a seemingly isolated Jesus and the reactions of the twelve are captured vividly; their faces reveal different emotions, the shock and anxiety caused by the disheartening words of their master.

In the book Lives of the Artists: Leonardo da Vinci, 16thCentury painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari lauds Leonardo for drawing with “such marvellous skill” and for painting with “wonderful realism” which made his creations look “more convincing than the real thing.” In the Last Supper, Leonardo left the head of Jesus unfinished; convinced he would never give it “the divine spirituality it demands.”

Then he did his best to depict “features that would form the countenance of a man (Judas Iscariot) who, despite all the blessings he had been given, could so cruelly steel his will to betray his own master and the creator of the world”.

So, Judas as he appears on the Last Supper is “the very embodiment of treachery and inhumanity.” More amazing is that “the texture of the very cloth on the table is counterfeited so cunningly that the linen itself could not look more realistic.”

It is said that Leonardo had a room which no one else ever entered. Sometimes he locked himself in to weigh ideas which he would later express masterfully with his paint brush. To Vasari, Mona Lisa is the best example of “how faithfully art can imitate nature”.

He describes the portrait beginning with eyes as having their “natural lustre and moistness, and around them were the lashes and all those rosy and pearly tints that demand the greatest delicacy of execution. The eyebrows were completely natural, growing thickly in one place and lightly in another and following the pores of the skin. The nose was finely painted, with rosy and delicate nostrils as in life.

The mouth, joined to the flesh-tints of the face by the red of the lips, appeared to be living flesh rather than paint. On looking closely at the pit of her throat, one could swear that the pulses were beating...”

Leonardo was very creative while painting Mona Lisa that he hired singers and comedians to keep her happy “and so chase away the melancholy that painters usually give to portraits.”
That’s how he managed to capture what has since come to be famously known as the “enigmatic smile”, which Vasari describes as “so pleasing that it seemed divine rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed to find that it was as alive as the original.”

Clearly, Ugandan artists have much to learn from the patience, hard work, creativity and class of the Italian genius, whose works continue to immensely influence modern art over 500 years after his demise.

--Sunday Monitor, November 9, 2008

Ugandan art mirrors the emotions of independence

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

As Uganda celebrated her 46th Independence anniversary slightly over two weeks ago, the country’s contemporary artists convened at Nommo Gallery and exhibited works depicting the emotions that followed the attainment of self-rule.

On display was an intrig

uing repertoire of abstract and semi-abstract paintings, metal and wooden sculptures that evoked the deep sorrows of what the country endured on her road to independence, and of course, the revelry that accompanied this achievement.

The words of one critic that authentic art must ignite an argument between an artist and his audience struck the mind by just looking at Yusuf Ssali’s painting.

Aptly titled Africa and the Struggle for Her Independence, it depicts a white and black cock menacingly staring at each other like sumo wrestlers before a bout. The black cock’s beak is sealed with a padlock. A note next to the painting explains that the black cock represents Africans and the white cock symbolises the white colonial masters.The black cock’s padlocked beak shows that Africa’s claim to independence is false since Africans don’t have the freedom “to determine anything before the colonialists approve it” and that “Africa is in a deep state of sorrow for the lost independences she had before she was colonised by the powerful colonies…”

Ssali’s painting arouses disturbing reflections: Is the continent truly free? And if not, what then is the meaning of the annual independence celebrations?

Pinned on an adjacent wall was another painting showing two little figures, predominantly done in national colours and titled Independent Minds. The painter, Bwabee Malik, is the same creator of the Independent Choir. The latter shows a trio of animated sketches playing the flute and other musical instruments, probably to say independence came to the ears of many like a sweet melody.

The Crested Crane, the national bird, was there too, painted meticulously in oil by Ssensalile James under the title Darling Bird. But most outstanding, though it was difficult to tell what it had to do with independence, was a painting by Olsaam Ponika sophisticatedly titled Yellow Mode.

It portrayed a nude woman complete with an inviting cleavage and a luscious figure. It’s not clear if it was a painting or merely a drawing but art connoisseurs say a successful drawing is that one which is not fluent.

Drawn on white, Yellow Mode gets you wondering if the painter used water colour or coloured pencils. You also wonder why the artist employed yellow colour. And is that how an independent woman looks in the nude – delicate and glossy? What was the painter’s motivation? I could not tear my eyes away from Yellow Mode for before me was a rare work of perfection; clearly created with utmost diligence; it looked wet as if it had just been finished, and I wanted to throw my arms in the air and cry out, “Behold a Ugandan Mona Lisa in the nude!”

The overall mastery in the use of colours and the general ingenuity behind the art works on display was amazing. Some of these were made by combining a multiplicity of articles like bark cloth, paper beads, cut-offs from old jeans, candle wax, cassava starch and thread; to form some of Uganda’s finest art inventions.

It’s this complete ability to put in perspective, through works of painting and sculpture, the joys and fears of attaining independence that every art lover must without inhibitions applaud.

--Sunday Monitor, October 26, 2008

Self-taught crafts artisan raising Uganda’s level in footwear

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

As a young boy, Labartin owned a beloved pair of Kenyan sandals, a birthday present from his mother. With time, the sandals were badly in need of repair but Labartin didn’t have the money to have them mended. As necessity is the mother of invention, so it has been said, he made his own awl and set on repairing his sandals.

He fell in love with his repair work and was suddenly seized by the urge to make his own sandals. Pencil on paper, he began sketching different types of sandals, then started collecting old car tyres and making lugabire out of them. To his delightful surprise, the locals clamoured for his work, a sign of appreciation for his creativity.

To cut the story short, that’s how Labartin became a self-taught crafts artisan. From tyre sandals, he experimented with real leather and began “making serious stuff”. He went over to Crane Shoes on Sixth Street, got membership to pay facility rent which allowed him to work there and master his art as well.

Labartin makes leather sandals, belts, and classy wallets. He also makes key holders in designs of sandals, maps, bottles and animals. You just have to tell him whatever design you fancy and should you want your name included, it will be done.

He cannot forget how far he has come, which is why his favourite creation remains what he now calls the “Labartin Sandal” along with its catchphrase: Walk in style!

“It has put me somewhere and I know it has put Uganda at another level in footwear because people really love it,” he says.

It makes his story interesting that he came from nowhere and started doing these things. He admits though that he was best at fine art in secondary school and also learned something from one of his uncles who is an artist specialising in batik.

Shortly after S.4, Labartin, whose real name is Edman Mwima, was confronted with life’s hard knocks with the death of his mother. He couldn’t continue with his studies because of financial limitations, so he began earning his living solely from his crafts business.

“People believe in my designs because they are original and unique; that’s why I supply those craft shops at National Theatre and on Buganda Road,” he says. “I even get some customers from Rwanda and Sudan. In Sudan they call my sandals Kabaya, which means something nice.”

The young craftsman has reason to boast. At only 22 years, he’s already a landlord in Kampala! He owns two rooms which he bought from his arts business and he rents one out and occupies another.

Labartin says it has taken him patience, hard work and discipline to win the trust of customers: “As a very creative artist, I have to sit down and take a lot of time sketching and cutting the patterns which I turn into stuff people like…no one can copy my products because they are unique and customers like that.”

Labartin, who comes from Tororo, surfs the net to update himself with the latest designs and is particularly “inspired by Italians because they are very ahead in leatherworks”. In fact it is an Italian that gave him the name Labartin, which he says means something genuine.

“I want to open a school that teaches young people about leatherworks so that in future it will not be me in the production room,” he says of his big plans. “I know my dream will come true because I believe that you can come from the ghetto and make big things.”

--Sunday Monitor, October 19, 2008

Art that carries the spirit of God

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

The paint brush makes light leaps across the canvas. After a few minutes, we see a thickly painted abstract piece with bright colours and intertwined things called 'Love Is Greater Than Power'.

“Each brush of the paint is a reflection of the beauty of the love of Christ,” says the artist, “because I believe this love is a truly beautiful thing that binds the world together.”

A painter of portraits, landscapes and events, Rolland Tibirusya Roldan, inspired by daily happenings and the magic of the moments, claims to have pioneered expressive live painting in Uganda.

“I began this functional art in church, where I would interpret sermons and take time to capture the message in a piece of art,” he says. “I’ve not seen any artist who has challenged me in this creative idea. I’ve even tried to encourage others to do this but they say they can’t paint on a live event.”

What his colleagues have shunned, he has continued to do. When Kirk Franklin was performing at the Kampala Serena Hotel earlier this year, Rolland was working vigorously to illustrate the mood and emotion of the day. He enthusiastically shares his unforgettable experience: “As the music was playing with people singing and dancing with Kirk Franklin, I was capturing everything on canvas with my paint brush. Later on, Franklin came and signed on the paintings. He said, “Good work brother,” then he gave me a hug. Other important people like pastors and MDs signed on the portraits but the signature of Kirk Franklin with my paint brush is the one that really was so amazing.”

The two paintings were auctioned and fetched Shs32m. Ten percent of that belonged to the painter and the rest to the African Children’s Choir but up to now, he has never received his share.

“They keep dodging me and I’ve taken them to courts,” he said dejectedly.

His other live paintings have generated millions of shillings for unprivileged children. When the Soweto String Quartet (SSQ) performed here in a Mulago Heart Benefit concert, his artwork raised 17 million shillings. And at the Nyaka concert earlier this year to raise money to build a school for HIV/Aids orphans in Kanungu District, another of his works generated 4.75m, which went to help the cause.

Rolland also participated in the Chogm charity walk organised by the Charity Walkers Club. During the walk from Entebbe to Kampala, he was on a pickup car painting, and his final product sold for $500. In all, his live paintings have this year alone raised over Shs80m for different causes.

“I’m not a philanthropist,” he says of his big-heartedness. “It’s just more of a blessing to give than to receive. When I use my art pieces to fundraise for noble causes that make a difference in young people’s lives, I’m just sharing the love of God and honouring Him for saving me from wickedness. I used to do paintings of nude women, and now that I’m born-again, my only heart’s desire is to do art that carries the spirit of God.”

As a boy, Rolland was apprenticed to his elder sisters, who are professional artists as well. The 26-year-old says he was an art champ all through school and has a BA Industrial and Fine Art degree from Makerere University.

“As a Mukiga from Kabale, where I grew up seeing men enjoying togetherness around a pot of Bushera, I believe in the communal doing of things,” he says. This belief in communism is reflected in his art, with the symbol of the cross and the prismatic colours of the rainbow dominating.

“As a born-again Christian, I recognise the cross as the greatest exhibit in the history of humanity and it helps me share my faith with the world through by paintings,” he says. “The colours of the rainbow are symbolic of hope and renewal that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”

Rolland’s work is simple but radical. At the time masked homosexuals demonstrated in Kampala demanding equal rights, he joined the prophetic gathering at Kampala Pentecostal Church to cry out to God to save the land from getting befouled by what he views as an abominable act. His painting showed multitudes with red tears and a panga reflective of the blood of Jesus and the sword of the spirit respectively, which would cleanse the land.

Another piece displayed at the recent WAPI concert at Hotel Africana had this expression: “Do not lie with a woman as one lies with a man; that is detestable!” – Lev 18: 22. This was displeasing to gays.

“Many were asking me why I was doing this to them but I used the chance to tell them that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve; that homosexuality is a dishonour to God and that there is no way we can raise generations through homosexuality,” says the artist. “One of them was touched and told me, “Truly the God you serve is real,” and asked me to keep him in prayer as he works on his salvation.”

Rolland is perturbed by the nearly inexistent appreciation of art in Uganda. “I’m always burdened when a muzungu comes and buys a piece at $1000, then some Ugandan who cannot buy it at Shs50,000 calls it junk,” he says. “I urge Ugandans to respect our work because every piece of art is a brainchild in itself; even if you repeated it, it would never be the same; we put in so much and this art comes from the soul.”

It would also please him to see the creation of a national archive, where the best Ugandan art pieces are preserved for future reference as is done in Kenya.

Meanwhile, Rolland will stay put at the Makerere-based Mitchell Hall Armour Arts Gallery, wearing his helmet of salvation and spreading the goodness of God further through art.

--Sunday Monitor, September 7, 2008

Monumental bonds

At Makerere University, halls of residence live by a certain culture. It is a culture enshrined in monumental sculptures built in six of the seven halls. Although they have generated conflicting views among students as to what they really represent, for many students, these statues represent power and a legacy left behind by ancestors of this 83-year-old Ivory Tower. While some people feel that the monuments are irrelevant and should be demolished, others say that they give the halls a sense of identity.

Gongom and Gongomess: Lumumba Hall, named after Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), prides in the statue called Gongom. Artist Elly Tumwine moulded him out of metal scraps in the 1970s. Today, Gongom spots sunglasses and an academic gown. His manhood is thrust forward, dressed in a condom. Gongom is treated like a father of the hall. He is showered with the highest titles on the land such as His Majesty, Professor, Emperor and many others. He is considered the founder of the great 'Lumumba Empire' (because it is the largest hall, its power is likened to that of an elephant). Gongom 'stands' in front of the mess where 'elephants' (Lumumba residents) bow before him (some lie at his feet) in utmost reverence before they serve their food.

A stone-throw away from Lumumba is the towering Mary Stuart Hall - popularly known as Box because it is architecturally structured like a box. On the ground floor, near the custodian's office stands the beautiful statue called Gongomess - seen as a wife of Gongom. Lumumba residents believe that in the beginning, the world was formless, empty and undeveloped until Gongom (the only person who existed then) decided to create a companion because he was very lonely. According to the Lumbox (Lumumba and Box halls) Encyclopedia 2001, he took out one of his ribs and created Gongomess. She stands as a symbol of womanhood, clad in a flowery gomesi to represent the modesty of the African woman as well as remind Boxers (Box residents) to embrace their heritage. Gongomess was reportedly made by an unnamed Fine Art student of Lumumba Hall in 1977.

"The raised arm of the matriarch pushes all Boxers to remain in the path of education and live true to our motto: 'Train a woman, a nation trained'," says Ms Rebecca Achieng, the entertainment minister of Mary Stuart Hall. She says it is the responsibility of the culture minister to wash Gongomess' dresses and change them occasionally to ensure that Gongomess retains a striking look!

The two sculptures embody the solidarity between Lumumba and Mary Stuart, which was consummated in the late 1970s, thus Lumbox Solidarity. Accordingly, there are times when Gongom is taken to Box to spend some 'quality time' with Gongomess and vice versa. This often is the case during the cultural gala or orientation week when they are being unveiled to first year students. In times of sadness, they also unite - for example when a student in Box died, Gongom was brought to Box to 'console' Gongomess.

"They bring us together. We mingle and learn to live and be great friends without strings attached," says Achieng. The height of this solidarity is shaped annually when first year students are taught the culture of Lumbox Empire. Boys are instructed in the art of condom politics using Gongom's manhood to demonstrate. In Lumbox Empire, boldness is a value, shyness a taboo. A freshman will be asked to surrender a condom while a Boxer will volunteer to step forward and demonstrate it on Gongom's phallus.

"It's a noble way of upholding the Lumbox Solidarity, it's a great culture and identity," says Ms Nesta Kigambe, a student.

At the end of the orientation week, ceremonies are conducted during the 'pass-out parade' when first year students from the two halls assemble in front of Lumumba (Gongom Stadium) clad in black attire - the colour of the empire. They perform the passage rites to 'real gallant members of the empire.' This is done under the supervision of the culture committee. What follows are praise songs for Gongom and Gongomess, who are considered rulers over every little and big thing in the university. For example, the main library is called 'Gongom Library' while the university hospital is 'Gongom Hospital'.

During university sports gala, the statues are taken to sports fields to 'cheer' the Lumbox teams. These movable statues have a protection unit elected by a 'council of elders!' You cannot, however, rule out low moments. For instance during last year's university guild elections, Boxers refused to vote for Mr Robert Sajjabi, an Elephant. He lost the election, which infuriated the great empire. It attacked Box, stripped Gongomess naked and even divorced her - a divorce that lasted a few days. In another incident, a mulokole student had a bad dream about Gongom and when he told residents about it the following morning, he was beaten up. Through thick and thin, Gongom and Gongomess are meant to be together - forever.

Osagyefo: The sculpture that sits in front of Nkrumah Hall is called Osagyefo. It is named after the great Kwame Nkrumah, founding President of Ghana. According to the hall's culture minister Mr Edwin Nkwasibwe, Osagyefo is a Nigerian name, which means redeemer. He says that when the hall was built and later broke away from the former Northcote Hall, students named it Nkrumah. A monument of Nkrumah was put up by one student called Kanya in 1995, thus Osagyefo Nkrumah, the statue. Nkwasibwe says that Osagyefo is a symbol of culture, strength and unity.

The area that surrounds this monument is called the Osagyefo Grounds. It is here that hall members assemble during the Cultural Week, also known as the Osagyefo Week to rekindle the Nkrumah flame. The monument is that of a man staring into the future, 'instructing students that they must fulfill their motto: 'Forward we move'! Just like in Lumumba, students take good care of Osagyefo, painting it regularly.

Besides, the tradition is that the Nkrumah family must gather around this figure and make a winning strategy before proceeding to their 'sister' hostel, Mulago View on what is called a 'mega benching spree'. Benching is a term used at the university to mean dating. Because Osagyefo was a pan-Africanist who believed in unity for all, this art piece stands as a unifying bond between Mulago View Hostel (for girls) and Nkrumah Hall.

After saluting it, the culture minister said the council of elders is charged with keeping the statue clean and in good shape as it represents the image and strength of the hall!

Mama Kakyala: As soon as you enter the University Hall, a monument of a very tall woman who looks like a model grabs your attention. She has a baby tenderly cradled in her bosom and the infant looks content as it points to the skies. It's a beautiful scene that reminds one of mother love. That's the sculpture of Mama Kakyala who was said to be a bar owner in the Katanga slums where she used to sell local brew to poor university students.

She was a motherly figure whose kindness was beyond measure. It is said that Mama Kakyala would give the students waragi on credit and on a good day, treat them to free booze. She even made it her responsibility to assemble prostitutes whom she brought to University Hall for interested students. She acted like a Ssenga, advising the students on the science of handling women. "[She is] a true heroine, a goddess. She always has the interests of 'Goats' at heart.

"We honour her and forever shall," says Mr Tom Asaku, the chairman University Hall.

This honour began in 1968, when the university's space allocation committee granted permission to erect a symbol of culture. A student only identified as Kaddu P.J.S decided to sculpt a monument in the likeness of Mama Kakyala. Since then, the culture of the hall has resolved around Mama Kakyala. It is said that she is a great storyteller, lovely and kind. Mama Kakyala has never been to school but is called 'the professor of languages' because she speaks many languages. Her statue is special to the Goats because it reminds them where they have come from, given that they have no solidarity with any girl's hall or hostel around the university.
Funny enough, Mama Kakyala is referred to as the virgin mother of nine daughters. She appears at all important events on the hall's calendar. When she falls ‘sick’, residents contribute money for 'her treatment'.

Rats, Crocodiles: Mitchell Hall, which for long had no monument, recently erected the sculpture of a rat to strengthen their solidarity with Complex Hall.

"We decided to sculpt the monument of a rat in a simple, realistic style to make it self-expressive to everyone. As you can see, it faces in the direction of Complex Hall and is raising his academic hood to direct the Crocodiles to Rat land for multiplication," says Mr Barnabas Odongkara, the culture minister.

Odongkara is also the Fine Art student who has moulded this giant rat. The semi-nude monument has over-sized balls that "reflect the true virility and masculinity of the great hall," he says. Rather than four legs, the monument outside the towering Mitchell Hall poses on two thick but strong legs to show the 'strength and bravery of the Gallant Rats'. Residents bow and lie at the feet of this statue to show their maximum respect.

Interestingly, the new rat contrasts sharply with the open-mouthed monument of Complex Hall (the sweethearts of Mitchell residents) called Crocodile. According to Ms Carol Nalwoga, the speaker of Complex Hall, the monument is loved because it symbolises the crocodile-like strength and enduring character of the residents. They even believe that the Crocodile will be striding down to Mitchell to snuggle in the warm hair of the Rat.

Odongkara says that the respect Rats and Crocodiles are already showering on this monument means that his artwork has accomplished its purpose: "The magic is working, Complex and Mitchell are a hot item - lift your hat for Mr Gallant Rat," he says referring to the monument.

Lollipop: You will spot this statue at the main entrance of Nsibirwa Hall.

"This is the great god of the greatest hall on this university," says Mr Conan Mubiru.

The monument is the size of a big dog. Actually, from afar, one can mistake it for a seated dog. The Lollipop sits under a tree, in seclusion from passers-by. Next to him are sculptures of a 'firing squad' that resemble little soldier-like men in a marching posture - these are the bodyguards of Lollipop.

Nsibirwa is called a 'state within a state under the lordship of Lollipop.' Residents and non-resident students attached to the hall are called statesmen. The tale is that Lollipop thinks ahead of every statesman and nothing takes place without his knowledge. Members also call themselves officers; in fact, there is a strong 'army' with 'artillery' meant for protection. Whatever is under Nsibirwa is 'state property', and all members must accord Lollipop maximum respect.

There is a council of elders and a revolutionary army headed by a commander in chief who must ensure the safety of Lollipop. Even those seeking leadership roles must report in Arua Park (yard near the Lollipop monument) to be initiated and also to receive blessings from Lollipop. Otherwise you are sure of defeat, so they believe.

According to Mr Eliot Twikirize, students consult Lollipop when they get poor grades and when faced with other problems: "We respect and 'worship' him. In time of catastrophe, the elders intercede for the state," he says, adding that all residents are groomed to be soldiers and that they usually buy a combat uniform for Lollipop.

"Nothing is impossible to a statesman. With the guidance of Lollipop and the magic of state science, there is always a solution to every hurdle. After all, our slogan is: 'we either win or they lose'," says Twikirize.

The Gentleman: Livingstone Hall is a quiet hall because they believe 'gentlemen are not supposed to get excited like little girls'. Indeed, the monument in the compound is highly respected. It is that of a giant man, clad in a kanzu, and a tie. He looks straight about the quadrangle.

Mr Robert Zavuga, the culture minister, traces the origin of the sculpture: "There lived Mr Gentleman who had very beautiful daughters. As they grew up, Gentleman decided to abandon everything and sat at a strategic place in his great palace. Now, the boys who wanted to 'encroach' on his girls learnt the hard way that there was no way they could do that when Gentleman was looking. To date, Livingstone Hall is the cleanest hall because nobody can dare soil it under the supervision of Gentelman!"

One Ombima created this monument in 1967. Students bow and address it as 'His Excellency Livingstone, gentleman of all gentlemen.'The culture minister says that in the tradition of smartness, a new tie and kanzu are presented to 'His Excellency' every year because "he portrays the gentle nature of Livingstone - very calm, and focused!"

Mixed feelings: The grapevine has it that the dean of students is against the monuments and would prefer them demolished. Indeed, when approached for comment, Mr John Ekudu sounded emotional: "These things (monuments) are going to go. They are irrelevant...they will go, they will go," he said.

The warden of Mitchell Hall, Mr John Kamya, looks at the Rat as "a piece of block that beautifies the place!"

For the president of the Makerere Students Guild, these monuments have one ideology - the solidarity that binds members of a particular hall together. Lumumba is always together because of Gongom," says Mr Morris Henry Kibalya, adding that the culture of statues is synonymous with Africa and has been there for ages.

"Everyone is entitled to freedom of expression. Students derive some meaning in these sculptures. They are symbols of unity and must be celebrated," he says.

Another lecturer, who did not want to be named sees these monuments as "elements of leisure which students play around with for fun!"

Mr Simon Peter Onaba, a born-again student, has a different view: "I think they are idols. There is a way those guys in Lumumba behave... it just has a spiritual connotation in it," he says.

Pastor Martin Sempa of Makerere Community Church (MCC) thinks the veneration of artistic pieces into a source of power is not hard to understand.

"The experience of Northcote (now Nsibirwa) is very telling in how, what started out as the "spirits" ended up from being a joke to something more. I am worried that we educated and sophisticated people of today don't want to accept the reality of the spiritual world. There is a narrow line in the world of excited students between pride in the art, and veneration and dependence in battles. When Gongom is brought to a soccer match between one hall and another, is it in a spirit of sportsmanship and culture or is it in soliciting the power of Gongom to give his team victory?" he wonders.

And when students dress Gongom with a condom, he gets worried: "It is quite unseemly that Gongom is dressed in a condom every day. The protruding piece that represents a phallus is very unsightly. I think Lumumbists are desensitised that normal people don't walk around with their phallus sticking out like that," he says.

In his days, Sempa says, "The indoctrination of Northcote was more intense than the recruitment of a Mugisu into a circumcision march and dance."

His general comment on these monuments is: "There is a part art, culture and a part where that crosses into a world of spiritual veneration."

Published in Sunday Monitor, August 28, 2005

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