Uganda, Nigeria tighten ties through art competition

Mar 29, 2023

According to the Nigerian ambassador to Uganda, Ismail Ayobami Alatise, the competition is aimed at strengthening the bilateral cultural relations between Uganda and Nigeria

Delegates from the Nigerian High Commission and the Uganda National Cultural Center at the Nigerian Embassy on Nakasero Road, Kampala on March 28, 2023

Hussein Kiganda
Journalist @New Vision

The Nigerian High Commission, together with the Uganda National Cultural Centre, unveiled the judges of the My Impression Art competition 2023 at the Nigerian Embassy at Nakasero Road on March 28.

The My Impression Art is an international visual art competition for students from tertiary institutions in Uganda and the Nigerian community in Uganda and Nigeria.

The five judges, who are renowned visual art practitioners of good repute from both Nigeria and Uganda, are tasked with selecting the best artistes out of the 53 who participated.

Running under the theme My Impression of Nigeria, My Impression of Uganda, participants are required to present a visual display of expressive thoughts and ideas about the two countries.

The jury is made up of Maureen Muwanga Senoga, a PhD and art educator at Kyambogo University; Venus Aransiola, a Nigerian-born, Ugandan-raised 2D pop artist, illustrator, and animator; Sanaa Gateja, a Ugandan art and crafts training consultant for community organisations in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya; Ajayi Y. James, a diplomat and currently a senior counsellor and head of economic, trade, and investment in the Nigeria High Commission Kampala Uganda and Paul Lubowa, a Uganda visual artist, designer, educator and researcher.

The competition has been running for the past three weeks, during which teams visited various higher institutions of learning.

The award event will be held on March 30, 2023 at the Nommo Gallery, Kampala.

Nigerian ambassador Ismail Ayobami Alatise making an address at the Nigerian Embassy at Nakasero Road on March 28, 2023

According to the Nigerian ambassador to Uganda, Ismail Ayobami Alatise, the competition is aimed at strengthening the bilateral cultural relations between Uganda and Nigeria.

“Both the Nigerian High Commission and the Uganda National Cultural Centre appreciate the ties the two countries have enjoyed over the years, expressing and embracing each other’s creative and cultural products, including the performing arts like music and the literary arts of literature and film,” he said.

“It is worth noting that in terms of percentages, the Ugandans have embraced more of the Nigerian creative and cultural products, and, therefore, the need to deliberately have the same reciprocated in Nigeria, where we would see more Ugandan artistic products received and enjoyed in Nigeria. Such initiatives as cultural exchanges and cultural co-operation can help achieve this,” Alatise stated.

He added that the competition intends to interrogate and write the impressions, narratives, and perceptions that people have about the two countries, promote cultural exchange, pan-Africanism, and organise and curate an annual art competition that recognises and appreciates artistic talents in Nigeria and Uganda.

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