Introducing the MoTIVArt Salon…

“….a reminder that humanity may, after all, Conquer even the worst carnage of our time. A hope that we will be here, Even tomorrow.”

Edgar Taremwa

I will be the first to admit, I do not know much about contemporary art, (probably, know nothing) but I know one or two things about potential. I see it, admire it build platforms to unlock and enable it.

To learn more about the industry, I became a student hit the road with a young curator Trevor who took me under his wings and I took him under mine to explore how we might shine a spot light on Uganda’s contemporary art industry. At the least, the little I know and the much he knows would be able to create something new.

In came the MoTIVArt Salon; the first of our exploits right in the middle of lock down but for me; a ray of hope celebrating an artist for each of the 42 days of lockdown. Yes, you will see 48 — 😀 because you deserve a bonus. Working closely with our friends from The Creative Tribe, the salon went virtual. See more here and choose to support one of them today.

The #MOTIVArt salons are a series of exhibitions created to connect artists to their audiences locally, to build markets for Ugandan contemporary art and to help make cultural experiences more accessible to the public.

Whereas this phase is wrapping up, it is a stamp of approval for the many young artists who participated in our first iteration. It has been a very challenging journey with the pandemic but we are glad we were able to pull it off. Lots of lessons learnt and lot’s of victories achieved.

But more importantly, a new journey in our aspiration to enable and unlock potential.

1. Aloka Aloka.

Aloka works with different media, he paints, draws and also performs, he has not had any formal training in the arts but has learnt through practice, residencies and from the artist networks, he has formed through 32Degrees East. His submission for the Salons is an Untitled painting, this work speaks to the regulation of the black female and the politics surrounding the projection and perception of self through how black females choose to wear their hair. Aloka’s work is particularly exceptional in the way he subdues his colour palette, it is rich yet harmonious, the painting is well composed, the attention to detail is delicate for a large painting, each element has been deliberately chosen and worked to perfection.

Untitled 1. oil on canvas 2021

2. Brogan Aaron Mwesigwa

Brogan Mwesigwa a graduate of Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, He works in recycled paper, acrylics and charcoal, he has developed his style through his ingenious use of material and colour. His paintings wrap symbols and metaphors in the figures he uses and how he layers his paint, the painting reconciliation shows this clearly, the dark hues contrast with colourful backgrounds to give interesting juxtapositions. In “Reconciliation” he makes a metaphor for violence, liberation and belonging on African soil. The painting invites the person seeing it to think about how true reconciliations will occur; can the pain, anger, and death caused by conquest for territory and power be justified or forgiven?

Reconciliation, 2020 I Charcoal and Acrylics on Recycled paper

3. Buzabo Melissa.

Melissa is a graduate of the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, she works with recycled material to create intricate mixed media works. Her practice is centred around the conservation of nature and awareness on climate change, she describes her work “Circle of Life” as a cry for help as far as climate change is concerned, she says “…it focuses on butterflies and their life cycle, their greatest threat is habitat change which is brought about by climate change…what we fail to remember is their importance to the ecosystem because as we destroy their homes, we ultimately destroy our own”

4. Ethel Aanyu

Ethel is a self-taught photographer, and her work in photography is portraiture, she photographs various subjects and herself to create portraits that tell stories of hope, pain and triumph, this is what she says about her work in the salons.

“New soul “ gives hope and teaches people to appreciate themselves, to love, dream, and believe that everything is possible if we believe it is.

5. Senkubuge Martin

Senkubuge is a graduate of Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, his medium of choice paints, and this work “Sister Oliver” is a tribute to a model at the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Art, Senkubuge wants to celebrate the individuals who are often relegated to insignificance in the art production cycle. His tribute is magnificent and sister Oliver would be proud of how he renders black skin and how he aptly captures the human form and anatomy in such complicated poses.

6. Nyina Mugasha

Nyina works with a variety of materials, and her play with color and material is entrancing, she describes herself as “an inspired creative whose art is centred and built around pattern work and womanism, intending to show the focus of a woman’s strength and her ability to turn strife into life.”

7. Erinah Frida.

Her fascination with plants is the inspiration behind her work, she produces her work through play and experimentation “I vary in the materials and mediums used in my artworks. This allows me to be flexible giving every art a unique voice. It also allows experimentation of the different materials, techniques and ideas, changing the way things are known to be made, working with new materials and methods.”

8. Kantono Nakirya Esther.

“Drips of love and empathy is all that she reflects even amidst tribulations her firmness and presence are felt She colourfully lights the dark. Because she’s black and flawless.”

9. Nsuutamukama Favor

Nsuuta is a graduate of Kyambogo University with a degree in industrial and fine art, she majored in painting and sculpture. She worked in the palette knife technique to produce this work so full of vibrant colour and texture, the piece “lamb of God” captures in this portrait of a sheep, serenity, calm and peace.

10. Bright Pascal

Pascal received his training at Kyambogo University and he specialised in painting. His are dystopian landscapes that show the changing relationships between humans and cities, how these environments affect how communities interact with each other, he paints tales of perseverance, pain, unity, triumph and love.

11. Daniel Muhumuza @muhumuzarts

Daniel born and raised in Isingiro district moved to Kampala to get his formal training at Kyambogo University where he is majoring in ceramics and painting. This juxtaposition of environments informs his work, he wants through his work to chronicle the ankole cultural values and traditional artefacts, he describes his work as “visual bells” created to awaken people to keep the priceless cultural value of their traditions for future generations”

12. Bob Archist.

Bob Wanyama is a self-taught artist, born in Busia district in 1995. Having grown up next to Kenya in close proximity to the border, he recounts his childhood experiences as “ wild and traumatic“ ; he seeks to express them through his works to achieve catharsis. His work “Brothers” is a tribute to a childhood friend and he describes it this way “as a child I got bullied a lot because I somehow happened to be the smallest child in most communities, only a few of those times I got rescued by an older friend and in this art piece I represent our friendship that turned into a brotherhood until his passing in 2020.”

13. Kiconco Priscilla Jeninah

Kiconco Priscilla Jeninah, is an artist from Kampala Uganda a student at Makerere University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in industrial and fine art, a painter, graphics designer and photographer, the work she submitted for the salon is an abstract painting symbolizing religious artefacts used in ritual ceremonies.

14. Doddridge Busingye

Doddridge Busingye lives and works in Kampala, Uganda. He graduated with a Master of Art in Fine Arts from Makerere University, Kampala in 2019 and a Bachelor of Art and Industrial Design from Kyambogo University, Kampala in 2015. Some of his recent exhibitions are: — Trip to Mind (Solo — 2020), East Meets east (2020–21), Kampala Art Biennale (2018), KLAART-2018, Art creates Water (2017), MabArti Challenge Winners (2016), Music is a feature of Man (2015), among others. His submission for the salons “Plastic smiles” is a composition of two winnowing baskets that are partly burnt. The burnt parts are arranged in a position to appear like the baskets are heads of smiling objects. In my village, Winnowing baskets (Olugali/ Engali) are used to sort and clean cereal during harvest. I love their spiral weave pattern and found them a very interesting choice to interrogate the narrative of “hunger and survival during the COVID-19 lockdown.”

15. Mwojo Mavin

Mwojo is a Visual Artist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Fine Arts and Design from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial fine arts and design. Currently pursuing his career as a mainstream art studio practitioner and an industrial designer. Inspired by social issues and an advocate for social change he specializes in contemporary art as most of his creations are realistic yet abstracted images that are a representation of our everyday lives, they contain feelings and emotions that resonate with the viewers. Creating a visual culture that speaks of possibilities in that which the society finds disturbing is what drives his creations.

16. Edgar Taremwa

17. Wandaalo Atenyi Daniel.

Edgar Taremwa is a medical student at Busitema University, he draws as a form of expression and therapy, this submission titled hope is a tribute to medical personnel who worked during the covid 19 pandemic, the artwork is inspired by a poem written by a friend of his, Ojilong Daniel. Here is an excerpt

“A reminder that humanity may, after all,

Conquer even the worst carnage of our time.

A hope that we will be here,

Even tomorrow.”

18. Atwon Benjamin.

Daniel Atenyi was born in Jinja in Eastern Uganda and has lived there all his life, only leaving for the first time to go to school in Wakiso where he attended secondary school at King’s College Budo from the year 2010. During his childhood, he was introduced to art by his parents who noticed his keen interest in the arts and always bought him sketch pads and crayons from the age of four, also regularly signing him up for children’s art competitions that were usually organised by the vision group at the time. Daniel is currently a student of Land Surveying and Geomatics and is a freelance artist, a hobby that has grown strong having studied art from primary school through secondary school. Through that period of time, Daniel has been commissioned multiple times, most notably by the Holy Cross Society for portraits of Rev. Robert T. Hesse, C.S.C. 1926–2007 and Saint Andre Bessette, C.S.C. 1845–1937 among many others.

Atwom Benjamin was born in 1996 in Kitgum in the northern part of Uganda. He joined the Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design where he graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art in 2019. He works in different media to experiment with drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, installations, mixed media and recycled works that try to question and explore metaphors, superstitions and conventions — especially by juxtaposing objects and situations to provoke questions and look at things with new eyes. He draws inspiration to create from personal experiences, taxi rides, sound, music, boredom, bad dreams — the little things, the ones we usually overlook. His work “Electoral Jukebox” speaks to the relevance, effectiveness and complexities of electoral democracies.

19. Kamanzi Walter

Kamanzi Walter is a Ugandan pencil portrait artist majoring in charcoal artworks. He is a proud self-taught artist who is currently studying at Kampala International University

He creates artworks with charcoal pencils on paper, mainly portraits for a living and also some drawings for gallery exhibitions.” I hope to inspire many out there with what I do and try to make many have a smile each day they glance at my artworks.”

20. Agambwe Mathias

Agambwe Mathias describes himself as a freelance artist who works with charcoal to create portraits, his submission for the salon was a tribute to the Tanzanian statesman John Magufuli, in this piece he venerates him as a fallen hero.

21. Ivor Samuel

Ivor Samuel describes himself as an architect who paints stuff sometimes, his work “Adam’s Vision”, is a depiction from the bible story of creation, Ivor draws heavily from mythologies and legends, this painting according to the artist shows the moment Adam ate the fruit from the serpent and realises that from here on, he would have to be his own saviour from his own sin. This can also be interpreted as the curse of knowledge.

22. Ibrahim Kizza

Ibrahim Kizza is a digital artist whose main focus is portraiture. He aims through his work to celebrate black bodies and immortalize their beauty.

23. Ocen Jacob Siyoi

Ocen Jacob is a photographer based in Kampala, he experiments with colour and composition to create beautiful striking images, he also enjoys photographing landscapes and nature.

24. Ssekitto Kalule Emmanuel.

Ssekitto Kalule Emmanuel is the founder of Faces Up Uganda, an NGO that empowers young people through creative arts and mentorship. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and fine art from Makerere University. As an artist and a civic leader, his work has been recognized in Uganda and throughout Africa. Last year in January, he was shortlisted as the only visual artist amongst the finalists for the Top 40 Under 40 in Uganda — a prestigious award. He has received the following nominations: African Youth Leader of the year (2018) and Young Achievers Awards under creative arts, film, and photography category (2017).

25. Agaba Solomon Peabo

Agaba Solomon Peabo is a photographer and digital artist born and raised in Uganda. The inspiration behind his street photography and afro-futurism is the dream for a better Africa. Bringing that dream into reality through his work is what motivates him each day.

26. Otim Nathan

Otim Nathan is a visual artist born and raised in Namatala,” I started falling in love with art in my primary school and was inspired to start drawing from this class because I had a friend who used to make drawings of photos from movie posters.I went on to pursue my career up to university where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commercial art and design from Nkumba university in 2019”

27. Ogwado Joachim

“Making the world a better place through my works and being able to tell my stories through my works is what inspires me. I’m a visual artist and have been practicing art for a while and this particular style is coming to a year.”

28. Kiyingi Henry

He is a visual art practitioner and studio researcher based in Uganda and currently working with Art Bond Studios, Naalya. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Art and Industrial Design from Kyambogo University. In the field of art, he has managed to work with a number of Galleries and other art spaces within the country.Most of his works are dominated by women, children and landscapes. The beauty of Uganda’s structures and the skyline that has changed with time from the colonial times to the present day architecture really makes him feel alive as he paints. He also paints human figures in a colorful abstract style,while maintaining the forms and poses.

29. Ntege Juma.

I am a Ugandan studio practicing contemporary visual artist, born in 1994 raised by my mother in Kyaliwajjala. an award winner; The best art piece 2019 Namugongo Division Youth Talents Namugongo Division and the founder of Kyoya Art Creations. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Art and Industrial Design, Kyambogo University. I majored in Painting, Drawing and Ceramics. I ventured into adventurous use of feathers and acrylics to execute communicative collage paintings. I also executed communicative drawings in ink and graphite in schools he attended. I currently work associatively with Tadooba Gallery Organisation.After my graduation, I embarked on a further exploration into my new feather technique (Kyoya) art in studio practice. My works have been exhibited in galleries such as UMOJA Gallery, Tadooba Gallery and VODO, engaged in exhibitions, East African Biennial and also participated in an artist residency at Tadooba gallery.

30. Ntale Eriya

“Often times dreams are inevitable because a little bit of what we fancy makes us feel better, what we dream about or wish for compels us to strive harder to attain it but dreams don’t really come to us in all clearness they are quite illusional dazzling and not granted to us in a straight path as imagined. In my work I try to visualize these dreams or wishes and illustrate them with lines and backgrounds in my style called line art. In this body of work “I Wish” I picture that moment in this woman’s life, so deep in adoration but at the same time lonely.”

31. Micheal Kisiti

“I am a self taught visual artist primarily focused on abstract paintings. My practice focuses on the belief that people should be hardworking and not undermine any art work in society.My new collection “Street Life” is a reflection of my own journey as it pertains to my transition from a place of darkness to where I am today. I incorporate positive messages within my pieces as a way to encourage others on the transition. My work has been featured by The Creative Tribe in two exhibitions, at Bunna Cafe in 2018 and at The Innovation Village in 2020 and will later be featured in a solo show in 2021.I am currently working on a mural project with Pollicy on mental health awareness for creatives”

32. Canon Rumanzi

“I avidly photograph, draw, paint, write, and record video. I consistently publish and share these via social networks (www.UrbanUnkindness.com). I hold art in the highest undeniable regard as the most unbridled way of sharing the experience and aspiration of our being. I am motivated by the mysteriousness of our presence, all the possibilities! I collaborate with Andrea Stultiens on a platform we founded in 2011; History In Progress Uganda (www.HIPUganda.org).”

33. SSOZI ARTHUR GRACE 19YEARS I am a year one student pursuing Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Art at Makerere University.I have great passion in illustrations, cartooning and visual story telling. This art work is a conceptual cover of an illustrated children’s novel about the adventure of two African siblings and their encounter with a wild dog in African game park. During their visit to the game park, the siblings find themselves in rat and mouse chase with a notorious poacher. The story intends to highlight the plight faced by wild life due to poachers and how we could play a role in stopping this.

34. Juliano Trabou

aka Julian Docken is a graduate of Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD).He is a painter whose work explores positivity, truthfulness and acceptance. He uses his signature character and typography to show how people view and judge each other and perhaps themselves; Juliano’s work says “I see right through you” , “I am what I am”. There is no no pretense and no excuses.

35 Onono Andrew is a Ugandan and native of Ndejje Lubugumu, Wakiso who by the age of 9 started drawing and painting shapes and figures with crayons and powder colors respectively from his parental home. After intertwining with art in high school, he then opted to study and focus on Art where he discovered his love for painting in 2015 while finishing his undergraduate degree shortly after which he graduated from Kyambogo University with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Industrial Design in 2018. Prior to his graduation, Onono had mastered the proper use of brush and application of paint on canvas which was a stepping stone for picking apart techniques and keeping up with commissions of portraiture and different painting genres.

36. Sharon Atim Kinyera

She is a contemporary Ugandan artist who uses ceramic, glass, acrylic and watercolours to create an imagined world of sumptuous minimalism in mosaic and paintings. Kinyera’s work is informed by narratives of cultural heritage and African history, drawing on an array of historical photography and artistic traditions to explore the historical, social, and material implications of blackness and womanhood.

37 . Kasagga Joseph born from Kalungu district, Kitabona LC1 I fell in love with art in primary one and went on with my dream to a higher level to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Industrial Art and Design at Nkumba university in 2021.

37. Joshua Victor Semaganda is an emerging documentary photographer and sculptor based in Kampala-Uganda. He is a bachelor’s degree holder from the Margaret Trowell school of industrial and fine arts at Makerere University Kampala. His work is greatly inspired by the social issues to do with our daily life that are often underlooked and if not addressed they may go unattended to. In other words he uses art as a form of expression to create awareness with hope of paving way for social change.

38. Matt Kayem

(Michael Matthew Kayiwa) is a Ugandan contemporary visual artist. Matt’s work explores issues of identity, race, African history, black consciousness, religion, sexuality and pop culture.. My work hints on decolonization of myself and my kind and also a possible conscious integration and adoption of cultures alien to the African. I have exhibited at a number of shows which include the Laba Arts Festival, 2016. I have also shown at the Kampala Biennale both in 2016 and 2018 . I have had four solo shows, two in Kampala, one in Nairobi and the last one in Lusaka where he completed a residency in April and June 2020.

39. Victoria Nabulime

My mind is a desert and the wind just blows through it. The desert is a barren place void of life for the most part except for creatures with very high tolerance, they make the best of it. I find beauty in distortion, imperfections, scraps, tearing, rearranging, layering, juxtaposing. In this piece, I arrange scraps of photos to evoke emotions of joy which is in itself the result of creating the piece . The piece speaks to the struggles of teenage girls.

40. Josh Heavenstone,

I’m a male artist

41. Tumwesigye Ivan.

Securing Your Future.

42. Fatuma Hassan is a graduate of Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design, Uganda

(NIAAD). She started producing Contemporary art using Oil and acrylic on Canvas in 2014. She has been featured in several exhibitions including the Women’s Empowerment Exhibition,

Umoja Gallery and The Uganda Marathon Charity exhibition. Fatuma has had a solo exhibition with The Creative Tribe’s Popup Gallery and been published in an independent magazine as a young emerging artist with Affirmative Art.

43. Lagen Daniel is an emerging artist from Kampala, Uganda. His work provides an energetic combination of drawing and painting, it guides the viewer on a line blurred between mediums, by invoking the beauty of a contemporary African, there emerges a sense of wonder with human and Nature, not just living as one but also being as one. As a graduate of Michelangelo School Of Creative Arts program, where he received a diploma of fine arts, Lagen is looking forward to pursuing a Bachelors of fine arts degree. Currently Lagen is continuing his Practice at Vodo Art Lab & Society, Motiv, However earlier Practiced at Fitzgerald Art Studio, Naalya where he worked as a Resident artist for nearly three years. This experience greatly expanded his knowledge and understanding of numerous disciplines and techniques in art, with guidance and information from coworkers and professional Visual Artists who used to frequent the Art studio, Lagen’s list of teachers continues to grow, As a student of Life and of art. Lagen is developing depth that is increasingly reflected in his work.

44. Nakazzi Hildah

Viewing art as a weapon to raise awareness, appreciation, love, absorbance is what drives Hildah to make works that capture not just concepts or paint, oil on a canvas but as a way to bring people back to the rock that art is a tool that can change lives, give them meaning, purpose and feeling. To her, art is her path to artivism which is an underlying cord that should drive an artist to produce works that serve value. to Hildah Nakazzi, regardless of the size, material, medium, or message, art is effective.

45. Kajebe Jacob Joshua, a Ugandan multimedia designer artist . I am driven by my passion for African culture and heritage. I create African outfits inspired by research, design thinking, design process, design visualization and display. I believe that art to me is a communication medium.

46. Melissa Mugisa, Digital Illustrator. Using art as a means to both experience and understand the world, as well as myself. By illustrating different concepts, I seek to share my own perspective with viewers by translating ideas into colorful visuals that make the audience feel something. The subject matter of my prints is primarily imaginative composition and is heavily influenced by things like music, media and my own life-experience.

47. Nantongo Olivia Mary 27 years old. A visual, mixed media artist. Particularly a painter.

We are living in a society where women have self love issues, body changes, skin color and self confidence and esteem challenges. I get a lot of inspiration from contemporary artists who taught me that anything can be a canvas including my own body, as long as I am bringing out a message for critics to see. As an artist, I want my artworks to breathe life into a long forgotten culture, give life to society, capture it in all its glory and create beauty from the ruins of random objects.

48. Namata Birungi.

Namata Birungi Maria is a female visual artist. Her main medium of expression is sculpture. She has skill in other areas like drawing and painting.She has experimented with a variety of media like clay, metal, fiberglass,metal,wax,beads, acrylics among others.Nature, immediate surroundings and the stories people tell greatly inspire her work. She’s drawn to women in everyday settings. Her work is mainly dominated by human figures, especially women and children.

To her, the human body has many interesting shapes , is expressive and is therefore used to express a full range of emotions/feelings to which viewers can relate. Her understanding of anatomy enables her to portray her sculpture in flattering elegant styles and poses. She usually uses a realistic approach, and at times an abstract approach.