Theresa Musoke’s living earth

By Edris KisambiraAn impressive show of some of the best wildlife paintings in both water and oil together with prints is on at the Sheraton Hotel. It is a must see for art lovers, as well as those who are fascinated by visual imagery of one of Uganda’s widely travelled painters, with wide ranging subjects from wild game and landscape to some of Africa’s most interesting peoples like the nomad communities of Eastern Africa.Theresa Musoke is an internationally acclaimed Ugandan artist with an enduring talent. She is newly returned from Nairobi, Kenya, where she has spent more than 20 years in professional exile. Since her return two years ago, this is Theresa’s first major exhibition.The 53 pieces on show are both mixed media on canvas and bark on bark mixed media, with eight in the former category and 45 in the latter.You cannot miss the interesting titles she chooses for her works. Titles like Wild Beast on the Move, Shimmering Plains, Childhood in Africa, Canine Killers and Sunset Giraffes give you insight into what is on show even before you set foot in Rwenzori Ballroom pre-conference hall.Those who know her works say she has successfully bridged the gap between her training in contemporary Western aesthetics and her visual or thematic inspiration rooted in an African heritage, and produces images that are universal in their urgency and appeal.True to this, Musoke’s pieces have one dominant aspect: The life of wild game in the wilderness, how animals relate, their behavioural patterns, the protection of their young and the way she brings out the instinctive awareness of their dangerous surroundings.The detail to her work reflects an African heritage depicted through her intricate paints about wildlife in Africa.Her colour use varies from subject to subject such that while painting a giraffe or another of those spotted animals, she employs a bright orange that makes the paint mellow to our naked eyes.ends