“This is what you missed at the Grand art sale”
Play child
The Display of different art pieces
Kabonge Wasswa with one of his art pieces
Muwanga Ibrahim operates a studio at his home in Kireka a Kampala suburb. With a number of other youths, the group concentrates on abstract art to tell stories and narrate issues of public concern.
while at the Grand art Sale an event organized by the Uganda National Cultural Centre and the National theatre in Kampala, Muwanga paraded an extra-ordinary painting that could tell a couple of public issues under the theme ‘family and parenting’.
In his art piece, Muwanga addresses distribution of responsibilities in a family and the roles of family heads as far as raising children is concerned.
The art Piece
The piece, is embodied with satirical messages involving an abstract of a bi-gender being (half man –half woman) and according to Muwanga the bi-gender being suggests two bodies, one soul, one family.
On the side of man are male children while the side of the woman has female children. To Muwanga, this piece addresses sex education and ethical upbringing, he says that no one knows better the girl children than their mum and the reverse is also true.
Still, the bi-gender is seen holding a book but the larger part stretching to the father side imply that the father should play a bigger role especially in educating the children.
Muwanga in his Words
“It was until when I discovered that jobs don’t exist in Uganda that I chose to exploit my talent and I found my Gold in Art” Muwanga says
Muwanga looks forward to selling his Art piece for about USD $1000 to enable him start an art business and a training centre to train the many unemployed youth in his home area.
Another eye-catching art piece was by a secondary school teacher Kabonge Wasswa of Seeta High School who plays around with Dots to come up with abstract art pieces.
He choose to start art as a side income generating venture to improve his income from the “peanuts’ that are paid to Ugandan teachers.
Kabonge is a young man with a great talent and he sales his art pieces at prices ranging between USD $500 to $800.
His only problem is how Ugandans perceive art thinking that its only meant for the western world.
Stake holders speak out
Peter Francis Ojede the Director Uganda National Cultural Center lauded the visual artists for their contribution to the arts industry. He told The Sunrise that Visual arts can help curb the issue of unemployment among the youth and all those who can make use of their Talents.
He said that the National theatre is going to gazette an official area at the theatre where art pieces will be displayed for the public to buy.
“We are in talks with the Entebbe airport management to acquire space so that art pieces can be sold at the airport” said Ojede.
