The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Top law firm Mukumbya Musoke Advocates awards art prize winners
Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | In the midst of a busy art calendar with the third edition of Kampala Art Biennale and KLA ART18 festival already in full gear, the first art awards organised and sponsored by a local corporate institution took place in Kampala recently. The Mukumbya Musoke Advocates Art Awards, initiated by Mukumbya Musoke Advocates, an upscale law firm, were inaugurated at the Afriart on 7th art gallery in industrial area recently with an impressive crowd of artists, art buyers, and the local corporate fraternity.
The four shortlisted finalists were Matthew Kayemba aka Matt Mayem, Pamela Enyonu , Sarah Marione Akol and Ocom Adonias. They were selected from 12 artists who submitted entries. Each of the finalists presented an artwork in the competition that was judged on concept and presentation. Matt Kayem’s terracotta figurine `Kanyesigye’ was influenced by contemporary archeological findings in the South Western district of Kiruhura, under the concept of African culture and identity; Pamela Enyonu’s `Bwino’ was inspired by the growing wave of fake news globally precipitated by controversial U.S. President Donald Trump political speeches and the validation of street culture into the mainstream; Sarah Marione Akol’s Nambi `Sky Goddess’ inspired by the ancient fable of Nambi and the subject of femininity and sexuality and Ocom Adonias’ `Saint Kikuubo’ that responds to the subject of social- political prejudices across the global in these contemporary times.
It was Pamela Enyonu’s conceptual painting with paper collage depicting the human skeletons that figuratively allude to the subject of credibility of information, hence ` Bwino’ ( a street lingua word that loosely means having facts on information) ,that stole the evening. She walked away with a Shs3.5 million cheque. Ocom Adonias was second. All the four finalists received certificates from the senior partner of the firm, Julius Musoke, himself an art buyer.
“As a law firm, we felt that supporting art through these awards was part of our corporate social responsibility. It is one way to grow the arts in Uganda, especially when the creative sector provides a lot of opportunities to young people and contributes to national GDP. These awards will act as a honey pot to attract the young artists who want to establish themselves in the industry,” he said in his speech.
The Mukumbya Musoke Advoactes Art Prize is slated to be an annual fete to celebrate and award young artists in the industry. Mukumbya Musoke Advocates Art Prize 2018 was in partnership with Afriart gallery.
