A great show of variety, beauty

By Stephen Ssenkaaba
FOR a place that is meant to show art, the Creations Art Gallery is located in an awkward place — along Portbell Road, sandwiched between a factory and an obscure eatery. This may easily keep away the viewers you might think. Far from it.

The gallery has brought together various artists and art dealers in an exhibition that explores the diversity of Uganda and its neighbours. The exhibition features paintings from some of Uganda’s well-known artists such as Elly Tumwine, the late Fabian Mpagi, Hoods Juuko and many others. It also features handicrafts, from the House of Crafts association of artists, fabrics from Creations Gallery and ceramic works from the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI).

This exhibition is a fine blend of different artistic genres, perhaps one of the few shows where you get to see painting, crafts, ceramics and fabric designs all put up on display. In a sense this variety helps the viewer to appreciate art from a wide perspective.

But there is also a lot of creativity as evidenced in various forms —Fabian Mpagi’s cubist images strewn with crisscrossing line schemes, rich, calm colour schemes in this show are my favourite. Mpagi has an interesting way with forms and composition that projected careful balance of emotions in his work. His paintings rekindle memories of one of Uganda’s fallen masters of visual arts.

The crafts which include baskets, floor and table mats, the fabrics showcasing shirts, dresses all lend a utilitarian value to this show. UIRI’s ceramics are also beautiful.

The photographs of Tuwine’s family and comrades and the pencil drawn portraits of Mandela, Garang, Nkrumah and other revolutionaries offers a sneak peek into Gen. Tumwine’s mind. It is a show of variety and of beauty.