This June Afriart is venturing off the beaten track by showing some of Ugandan’s talents that haven’t had an opportunity to feature in a main exhibition at the gallery. Giving them this platform allows both the seasoned, relatively unknown, artist and new talent to thrive.

The exhibition comes at an exciting time during which Ugandan contemporary art is gaining more and more recognition from the international art scene. Last month Kenya’s Circle Art Agency in Nairobi dedicated a complete show to Ugandan art, coincidently at a time that Uganda was recovering from election turmoil and its aftermath. As one Kenyan journalist noted: “any time a situation of psychic imbalance hits a country, the answers are always to be found in the arts of its people”, referring to the societal commentary that were explicit in many of the works[1].

Now that artists such as Ndema, Mzili, Xenson and Eria Sane are making waves internationally at auctions and fairs, it is time to look at the stories of the new generation of artists, allowing the Ugandan audience to appreciate their work.

Another article recently noted that Ugandan art shows such diverse “realities” that one could wonder “if there is tension that exists between people of different mindsets, lifestyles and perspectives?”[2]

Looking at the works of the artists that are featured in THE UNSEEN exhibition, this diversity is certainly present. One could question if the diversity in realities can be attributed to the fact that artist are “playing it safe” and/or they are seeking ways to express themselves indirectly through subtle metaphors. For example the bulls in Lukwago’s work represent male dominance over women in society. Over-consumerism and acquiring new wealth is a topic in Kandole’s mask sculptures made out of used tools and scrap metal. Nabukenya’s conceptual works have a strong links to women empowerment. Whereas others choose not to be political and instead produce art that depicts familiar local scenes one can easily appreciate and identify with, such as Ocom, Yiga Robert and Arim. Rumanzi’s work encourages the viewer to look at the city with a different eye. His photoshopped images of small planets placed in every day Kampala city scenes are both fun and amazing to look at. Mubiru’s paintings remind of obscure, yet familiar scenes in daily life. Patrick Mulondo’s striking scuptures add another dimension to this diverse show.

In short, this show celebrates diversity, multiple perspectives of a new generation artists in Uganda.

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With: Mulondo Patrick. Saad Lukwago. Reagan Kandole. Ocom Adonias. Denis Mubiru. Arim Andrew.
Canon Rumanzi. Hellen Nabukenya. Yiga Robert.

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http://afriartgallery.org/

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1 Kingwa Kamencu, “Consulting the oracle at the Kampala contemporary art show” in Daily Nation, 21 May 2016.

2 Zihan Kassam, “Kampala Contemporary: encroaching a new realm, Mapping art in Kampala where freedom of expression is still missing” in Conceptual Fine Arts.com, 2 May 2016.