The human figure continues to fascinate modern and contemporary artists. Many are gripped by its deployment as an aesthetic or conceptual symbol that evokes different forms of visual narratives in their work, writes Dominic Muwanguzi. For Khalid Kodi it is an important topic that warrants a standalone exhibition that he …
Read More »Simple art for simple minds
How limited exposure limits producers of culture When artist Maria Kizito of the Makerere art school returned to Uganda in 2005 from Ireland with a PhD in studio practice, he sought to overturn the prevailing mundane formal techniques of art expressions that he found boring, untenable and simply antiquated. But …
Read More »Exciting look into the tadooba flames
The tadooba, a tin wick lamp is a familiar object in many rural homesteads across Uganda. Even in urban areas, it is commonly used to light some roadside businesses that operate after nightfall. In the case of the capital city, Kampala, food and fruit vendors, and street hawkers use them …
Read More »HIV infections level off at ‘worrying’ 2.5 mn a year
Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and patients live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said Tuesday. New infections have plateaued after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said …
Read More »ART: 100 nude women pose in Cleveland, reflecting on Trump
Cleveland, UNITED STATES | AFP | American photographer Spencer Tunick merged nudity and politics in a dramatic way Sunday in his latest work, posing 100 unclothed women for a shoot in sight of the Republican National Convention. Tunick’s large-scale arty installation, “Everything She Says Means Everything,” featured women of all …
Read More »Talent unseen
A show opened recently at the Afriart Gallery in Kamwokya, Kampala, is the latest effort in tapping into young talent and bringing diversity into art spaces. Titled `Unseen’, it showcases works by artists Mulondo Patrick, Lukwago Saad, Reagan Kandole, Ocon Adonias, Denis Mubiru, Arim Andrew, Cannon Griffin (Rumanzi), Nabukenya Hellen …
Read More »Eco-art novelty
Turning landscapes into canvas Bruno Ruganzu started out as a struggling artist about 10 years ago. His goal was to etch a mark on the patronage in order to survive. Starting out by painting on canvas, he made art that had marks of his ambition. But his turning point came …
Read More »Inspiration from a master
Fabian Mpagi’s legacy lives on through Waddimba Whether he recognized it as such or not, when President Yoweri Museveni officiated at an exhibition of contemporary Ugandan art in Vienna, Austria in 1992, he launched the re-entry of the nation onto the global art market.The two Ugandan artists exhibiting were Geoffrey …
Read More »Ubuntu portraiture
Could this artist bring his `hardcore of art’ to an exhibition soon? Henk Jonker, a Dutch artist, musician, and poet who lives in Kampala, believes there has been a major shift in the way people perceive each other all over the world, writes Dominic Muwanguzi. “It is no longer important …
Read More »Art of Propaganda
By Nathan Kiwere Following the social and political mayhem that was engendered by the botched 2007 general elections in neighbouring Kenya, politicians and the public went into an unprecedented frenzy, outshouting each other to prove culpability in what turned out to be a national festival of hooliganism. As they say, …
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