THE Afriart Gallery in Kamwokya, Kampala has just hosted a great line up of some of the best contemporary women artists working in Uganda in celebration of the Women Month of March.
The exhibition that ran from March 2 – 20, 2012, showcased the great advancements in art by top female artists displaying paintings, collages and photography. The display also included unique handmade earrings by Ugandan jewelers and other handcrafts.
The list of the exhibition titled, “Women artists in Uganda” includes: Stella Atal, Rosario Achola, Hellen Nabukenya, Maria Naita, Amanda Tumusiime, Sheila Nakitende, Meltem Yasar and Roshan Karmali.
Achola’s oil and mixed media display includes “The Lost Art of Romance,” “Bujagali” and “Fool’s Gold.” A picture of her painting “Bujagali” by Morgan Mbabazi appears above.
“Bujagali” explains the male element of economic development versus the female element of nature. With the building of the dam, a sacred place is going to be lost in the process. In the middle of the painting is the sacred area that is holding a secret of something more precious than gold.
“Fool’s Gold” is about the expectations of marriage. On the right is a man expressing his love and sexuality, he is the shining light, for his expectations are insemination reproduced by the fish and frogspawn below him. On the left is the bride and her expectations are fertility and a secure home. But these expectations break her neck.
Karmali, a photographer, designer and poet displayed her photographic collection tilted “Contemporary Tribe Series,” that included “Rachael,” “Jessica” and “Simone,” and?? Her series ask who is a tribe. What makes up a tribe? What is tribe?
“As long as we can remember tribes are made up of people who share the same traditions, cultures and a sense of unity, and look out and take care of each other. In the contemporary context as our cultures and ethnicities become diluted how does our generation connect to our indigenous heritage. So, we make a new (contemporary) tribe that takes strides or elements from our tradition and hold on to them in our contemporary lives,” Karmali observes.
“These series are about finding those people who function in life and keep alive their ancestry and cultural rituals despite being in the place that is changing. We tend to dilute our cultures with consumerism and the need to fit in and be the same. If we don’t celebrate our ancestry and tradition we are going to be creating generations of children who don’t connect, celebrate, indulge in the beauty and richness of our cultures. And this is not only happening in Africa but the other cultures in the world as well,” Karmali argues.
There was no better photo that summarized Karmali’s series than “Simone” - a portrait of a young woman of Burmese and American mixed race who has smeared herself with sandalwood paste as protection from the sun – a practice still in use in Burma. She lives in Washington DC, USA and this is a way of staying connected to her Burmese heritage.
Atal, a specialist in acrylics on barkcloth is also a fashion designer of wearable art. On display were her works like “My Sunshine,” “Beauty Contest” and “Rhythms of the Day” – carrying three fresh faces with beads, inspired to do something for the day.
Nakitende’s paintings included “Me Time,” “Strength of a Woman,” “First Love” and “My little friend.” While Tumusiime’s works are “Long Stride,” “Adolescent” and “Empowered.”
Nabukenya had “Blue land,” “Abstract,” “New Life,” “Love in Paradise” and “Advance.”
Naita’s works were “My Bouquet,” “Follow Your Dreams” and “My Best Friend,” among others.
Meltem’s marvelous photography made up of coloured and black and white portraits. Yasar, who seems to have fallen in love with nomadic peoples of western and eastern Africa has pictures of these people dressed in their traditional head gears, beads, burgles and hair styles. Most were captured in their homesteads in happy moods smiling with white beautiful teeth.
Meltem‘s collection include “Big smile from Omo Valley,” “Bottle cap girl,” “Lost in his eyes,” “Himba girl,” “Black-est eyes, beautiful smile,” “Scar tattooed Karamajong girl,” “Big Karamojong smile” and “Beauty in the crowd,” among others.
Achola, a surrealist painter and photographer described the exhibition as a way of expressing the different layers of what makes a woman, adding: “And it is also a way to examine the power dynamics in the different gender roles assigned to us by society.”
On her part Atal said: “I think it is a way of reaching out to other women showing them our talent by expressing our inner feelings through paintings and other forms of art.”
“We also want to prove to those who studied fine art and are not practicing thinking that it is a dirty job. Some people think painting is meant for men and not women, and that is why we are few women in this trade. So we want to challenge the men that we can do or even be better than them,” Atal added.
According to the curator of the Afriart Gallery, Daudi Karungi the exhibition showcased women’s creativity in Uganda with the purpose of displaying their works.
Ends.
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