What if there was a private art museum in Uganda?

Private art collectors’ museums promote a high value of local art on the international art market

Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | In 2013, I had an ambitious idea to have a small group of Ugandan art collectors showcase their collection to the public. The idea was motivated by the need to encourage Uganda’s middle class, business men in particular and senior corporate executives, to begin purchasing art. Therefore, by a selected group of art collectors exhibiting their collection to a primary audience of their friends, they were luring them into the culture of art buying. Another reason for this idea was to create an opportunity to archive the collection. Here, we could know which collector collected which artist(s) and what type of art was mostly purchased. These among other reasons are why I embarked on this seminal project and though it did not materialize, I noted that the need of a collectors’ museum in the country would definitely change the fortunes of the local art industry.

In the developed World like United States of America and China, private art museums are quite popular. In China alone, a number of private museums have been sprouting since the turn of the century. This has had a great impact on the Chinese contemporary art industry because of the attention given to the local art by the business men. The Chinese art collectors have invested huge sums of money in construction of new or redesigning old buildings and turned them into art museum housing their holdings. Here it seems inevitable that art has been linked with architecture; often a contentious relationship in certain parts of the world. In Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, the cities’ landscape is littered with stunning architectural buildings with art stored inside their impressive swanky interior designs worth billion of Chinese Yuan. The Redbrick Museum located in Shanghai, with its sculptural beauty and punctured brick walls is an example of a work of art that houses priceless artworks.

Away from China’s fast booming art museum landscape, on the African continent South Africa is a pioneer in private collectors’ museums with its much acclaimed Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary art Africa art. Though the Museum was not founded by a local South Africa business man, its reverence to African art and artists gives it credibility as an African facility. According to the curatorial note published on its website, the inspiration behind the Museum’s establishment was to provide a platform for African artists to subvert deeply entrenched stereotypes of African life and Art. The Zeitz houses some of the outstanding art by African artists on the continent and outside like Zanele Muholi, El Anatsui and Cyrus Kaberu. A private collection of these notable artists is a gesture of paying homage to African cultural heritage. As observed in the China situation, the billionaires behind the frenzy inauguration of private museums across the country are not only driven by vanity but the intangible benefit of cultural conservation and preservation. In both scenarios, the idea of attracting an international market for local art equally exists. The high value of Chinese art on the global art market is partly perpetuated by its vast collection back home.

A collectors’ art museum in Uganda can be very useful in raising the profile of local art in the region. This is critical since the art scene in the region is still developing and needs to attract a variety of activities to its door in order to gain the desired international recognition. In America, private art museums with support of an existing fund are synonymous with providing art residences to artists, organizing lecturer on specific topics and hosting travelling exhibitions. These curated shows and workshops provide a platform for exposure through interaction with different stakeholders in the industry without being undermined by the aspect of commerce. In the context of my grand idea, the Institute of Heritage Conservation and Preservation at Makerere Art School was interested in a partnership that would enable it archive the collection on display. As such, the institution would trace which collector owned a particular artwork and its location. This would in turn promote the idea of scholarship in modern and contemporary  art.

An absence of a private art museum may not necessarily imply the art industry of that particular country or region is not growing. However, it brings into perspective the role played by art collectors in the development of the contemporary art scene. Art collectors provide a ready market for local art through their engagements with galleries and individual artists. As such, the existence of private art museums is not only an extension of such valuable relationship but medium of raising public awareness to contemporary art and sharing the wealthy business men’s possessions with others.

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