Afriart Gallery announces the opening of Eria ‘Sane’ Nsubuga’s exhibition MUKAABYA’s LEGACIES.

Not everything one does with good intentions ends with a good legacy. This is true also of the rulers and leaders of our past. Mukaabya Muteesa I’s legacies are felt today in the modern Ugandan politico- socio contraption. SANE’s is not carried away by the pedantic way that the visible or visual histories of Buganda are depicted as sacrosanct. He is inspired in this body of works by Andrea Stultiens’ studies on the impact and place of photographs on the Ugandan psyche.

In his latest works SANE focuses on revealing the nakedness of the character Muteesa I, not as the powerful god king of Buganda, but as an image of somebody who was once in the position to shape the future of not only the Buganda kingdom, but also of Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole and others. Uganda today is an image of Buganda’s collaboration with the British colonizer.

As the story teller, SANE is interested in keeping the artist in political conversation as an important carrier of visual knowledge. The artist becomes the voice of the common people, not in the sense of solving problems for them, but being available to ask the questions the masses are asking. The artist should be visible in the art produced, as artists in the West have managed to achieve for centuries. The artist asks questions the people either wish not to ask, but also of the ones they forget to ask. Questions raised, may provide discussion of possibilities for change but SANE is not trying to answer the questions per se.

Also important in this work is SANE’s depiction of Christ as an africanised version of himself in adaptations of ‘La Pieta’ and ‘the Passion of the Christ’ drawing from photographs of Ugandan personalities as well as Renaissance and post- Renaissance artist like Carravaggio. SANE actually uses his own portraits when depicting his version of Christ.

The exhibition will show from 14 October – 4 November with an opening reception on Friday 14th at 6 pm 

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