Why are artists finally ditching tourist art? In the heat of the recent tide of arts and culture festivals in Kampala, one can easily conclude that this is an unprecedented moment in the arts scene. This impression could be because, until recently, there has been no coverage of art news. …
Read More »Jjuuko creates food for thought art
Imagine a food market, almost anywhere in Uganda. Often it will have a section for matooke (green bananas). Usually, it is a beehive of calling out to customers, haggling, exchanging money, and carrying bunches of matooke about on bicycles, the head, shoulder, or arms. By Dominic Muwanguzi Now imagine a …
Read More »Akizimana’s love of women
Artist uses art to depict beauty, struggles, generosity By Joseph Ondiek On a recent visit to Abien Arts Center in Kigali, we found the proprietor and resident artist, Fabien Akizimana busy on pieces he hoped to present to the panel of The East Africa Art Biennale association (EASTAFAB), from where …
Read More »ARTS: Tusiime’s creative mind
His barkcloth paper gives old material new image Dominic Muwanguzi How does someone in Uganda with limited formal education end up collaborating with a top British university on a groundbreaking innovation? That is the questions that Ugandan artist Mathias Tusiime’s collaboration with Newcastle University in England on the subject of …
Read More »‘The best words’: Trump may be a poet without knowing it
Oslo, Norway | AFP | “I know words… I have the best words,” Donald Trump said one day in his superlative way. Now those words by the new US president have been pulled together as a “collection of poetry” in Norway. Who knew? Trump the poet? “What Trump says is …
Read More »ARTS: Sexuality in Buganda
20 artists rekindle the debate in `EKifananyi Kya Muteesa’ Exhibit By Dominic Muwanguzi An ongoing archival exhibition of artworks by 20 artists at Makerere Art Gallery is renewing the debate on cultural conservation and preservation and how culture continues to play an important role in the social and economic aspect …
Read More »Health through song
The power of musical glue that binds friends and lovers across the ages By Amee Baird & Bill Thompson Many couples have a special song – “our song” – that reminds them of a significant event or time in their relationship, like when they first met, their wedding, or when …
Read More »Bill Clinton co-writes White House thriller
New York, United States | AFP | Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as America’s “first gentleman,” should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election. Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind …
Read More »NGOs team up to help Ugandan acid-attack survivors
Julie Bukirwa an acid survivor and a mother of two has told of her story of physical, social and emotional pain after the acid burns she suffered. She has called upon government to come up with strict laws on acid sale in Uganda and also heavy punishments for the perpetrators, writes Jimmy Siya. Two …
Read More »Young, hip Zimbabweans flock to rejuvenated arts fest
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Young, fashion-conscious and eager for change, thousands of Zimbabweans spent this week partying at music concerts and open-air bars during a six-day festival hosted in the capital against all the odds. The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), founded in 1999, was abandoned last …
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