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With its theme of celebrating and preserving indigenous social-cultural heritage and identity, while promoting professionalism in the way art is produced and displayed, the gallery is ready to complement the fast-growing Kampala contemporary art scene
ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | The Kampala contemporary art scene is getting more interesting, exciting and promising. Abataka Art Gallery is the latest addition on the long list of private art galleries around Kampala that offer new opportunities to mostly emerging artists to showcase their art and interact with a new breed of art clientele. This is exactly one of the objectives of this new art space located in Mbuya, one of the leafy suburbs of Kampala.
The gallery’s name, Abataka, is a Luganda word which loosely means indigenous people and suggests the gallery’s concept of celebrating and preserving indigenous culture and history through the different showcases of art.
Ismael Kateregga, artist and founder of the gallery notes this is critical for artists to capture and archive Uganda’s cultural and social heritage in art, and also make such art more accessible to Ugandans. “A lot of our art is bought and shipped abroad and yet it carries our indigenous stories. We need to reverse this trend and make it more accessible to the local people but this should be through professional showcases,” he says.
Professionalism is a key tenet that the new art space wants to tackle through exhibiting high-quality art. As an illustration to the commitment to show good art, the gallery opens with an exhibition of its frontman, Kateregga, to set a standard of what is to be exhibited in the space.
Kateregga has a leverage of many years of experience as an established artist and this status affords him an impressive network of different stakeholders within the local and regional art scene with whom he can collaboratively work with to set the gallery on its right path.
“My work is hanging on these walls not because I own the gallery but because I want to show the public what to expect every time they walk into the space. Every exhibition we shall stage here will have to meet the standard of these paintings on display,” he notes.
This strategy to emphasise the routine showcase of high standard works of art may seem a tall order for the new art space but is certainly realistic and achievable. The good fortunes of the founder within the Kampala contemporary art scene will definitely conspire to the success of this mission.
A new art space in Kampala resounds the often talked about potential of the Kampala contemporary art scene to become the centre for contemporary art within the East African region. The many young artists graduating from different art institutions in the country and are looking where to exhibit, the now cosmopolitan nature of Kampala with a hybrid of cultures that offer diverse inspirations to artists to create and the increased exposure to the international art market through participation in art auctions and art fairs that set attractive prices for artists’ works, all contribute to the vibrancy of the local art scene.
This path of growth invites new creative spaces, like Abataka gallery to complement this energy through its different objectives and aspirations. With this enhancement, it is undoubtedly that the industry is sustainably progressing and therefore this continuously lures other players to participate and engage.
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Abataka Art gallery is located on plot 10 Ismael Road, Mbuya and is open Monday- Saturday.
