Ugandan Easter artpiece gets international acclaim
Apr 08, 2004
When Ron Sciulli, principal of Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Elementary School in suburban Markham, Toronto, saw the painting of The Last Supper by Uganda artist David Kibuuka that depicts Jesus and his disciples with African features, he paid $40, and spent another $120 to have the picture framed prop
By Opio Oloya
When Ron Sciulli, principal of Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Elementary School in suburban Markham, Toronto, saw the painting of The Last Supper by Uganda artist David Kibuuka that depicts Jesus and his disciples with African features, he paid $40, and spent another $120 to have the picture framed properly to be hung in the front foyer of the school.
For Sciulli whose school has predominantly white middle-class students, “The piece is representative of what we are today, one humanity.â€
The way Kibuuka recalls it, a white client asked him to create an artwork that had a religious theme.
He was, at first, taken aback by the unusual request. Until then, his exquisitely executed artwork featured mostly African subjects.
His favourite painting showed Masai warriors decked in colourful beads and carrying long spears, and topless pubescent girls balancing beautiful gourds on their heads. He had stayed away from painting controversial subjects with political or religious connotation.
Kibuuka admits with a laugh that he was very naïve about what he was getting into. He decided to take on the project mainly because he imagined that the work would hang in only one living room, that of his client.
“I never imagined that one day, the Last Supper would become a runaway best seller. Had I known what I know now, I would have been too scared to touch it,†says the soft-spoken artist whose easy-going manner belies his intense intellect and burning imagination.
Kibuuka was born in Ruharo, Mbarara but moved with his family to Kampala when he was only four years old. The last born in a family of eleven, his best teacher was his older brother, the late Henry Lutalo Lumu, whose art technique is still employed throughout East Africa today.
He remembers being spanked by his father for using charcoal to draw on the wall. His first taste of commercial success came in Nairobi Kenya in the early 1980s where his unique stylised paintings were much sought after by Asian art dealers.
Today, after migrating to Canada in 1983, enlisting into the Ontario College of Arts, focusing on electronic video arts, Kibuuka is a celebrated artist. He opened a gallery Lumu in Toronto in 1990, moved to LA where he opened another studio Lumu in Santa Monica. He worked in the US for three years before returning to Toronto where he lives with his wife and three children.
With the advent of the Internet, he now has a virtual gallery instead of actual space. His art workshops currently run on the internet (www.kibuuka.com).
Preparing to paint the Last Supper, Kibuuka deliberately stayed away from looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. Instead, he wondered about the execution of twenty-six Uganda Martyrs at Namugongo on June 3, 1886 on the orders of King Mwanga of Buganda. How did Jesus appear in their mind?
As he translated his imagination onto the canvas, Kibuuka began to place African objects into the picture — instead of glasses and plates, he used the African gourds, wooden plates, and roughly hewed table. Jesus and his twelve disciples are depicted wearing African outfits with bright Africanised colours.
Then he deliberately brought them closer to each other, making them a close-knit family. With the exception of Jesus and Judas, he also deliberately made it difficult to identify the gender of the characters.
Then, instead of painting the westernised halo around Jesus’ head, he created a yellow light force emanating from the background, giving a spiritual atmosphere around the table.
Judas is shown looking away, as if he is beginning to consider betraying Jesus.
Today, Kibuuka feels most proud that his work is being adopted in the black communities. “I have been approached by pastors who say that the painting has enabled young people to feel connected to the Church. “They see themselves in the painting because Jesus is now someone closer to them,†he explains.
However, he feels that his proudest moment will be when the Last Supper catches on in Africa especially when it can be found hanging in every Christian home in Uganda.
Meanwhile, for Mr. Sciulli and many like him, the depiction of Jesus as an African speaks well of the true meaning of Christianity—it’s for everyone, he says.
When Ron Sciulli, principal of Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Elementary School in suburban Markham, Toronto, saw the painting of The Last Supper by Uganda artist David Kibuuka that depicts Jesus and his disciples with African features, he paid $40, and spent another $120 to have the picture framed properly to be hung in the front foyer of the school.
For Sciulli whose school has predominantly white middle-class students, “The piece is representative of what we are today, one humanity.â€
The way Kibuuka recalls it, a white client asked him to create an artwork that had a religious theme.
He was, at first, taken aback by the unusual request. Until then, his exquisitely executed artwork featured mostly African subjects.
His favourite painting showed Masai warriors decked in colourful beads and carrying long spears, and topless pubescent girls balancing beautiful gourds on their heads. He had stayed away from painting controversial subjects with political or religious connotation.
Kibuuka admits with a laugh that he was very naïve about what he was getting into. He decided to take on the project mainly because he imagined that the work would hang in only one living room, that of his client.
“I never imagined that one day, the Last Supper would become a runaway best seller. Had I known what I know now, I would have been too scared to touch it,†says the soft-spoken artist whose easy-going manner belies his intense intellect and burning imagination.
Kibuuka was born in Ruharo, Mbarara but moved with his family to Kampala when he was only four years old. The last born in a family of eleven, his best teacher was his older brother, the late Henry Lutalo Lumu, whose art technique is still employed throughout East Africa today.
He remembers being spanked by his father for using charcoal to draw on the wall. His first taste of commercial success came in Nairobi Kenya in the early 1980s where his unique stylised paintings were much sought after by Asian art dealers.
Today, after migrating to Canada in 1983, enlisting into the Ontario College of Arts, focusing on electronic video arts, Kibuuka is a celebrated artist. He opened a gallery Lumu in Toronto in 1990, moved to LA where he opened another studio Lumu in Santa Monica. He worked in the US for three years before returning to Toronto where he lives with his wife and three children.
With the advent of the Internet, he now has a virtual gallery instead of actual space. His art workshops currently run on the internet (www.kibuuka.com).
Preparing to paint the Last Supper, Kibuuka deliberately stayed away from looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. Instead, he wondered about the execution of twenty-six Uganda Martyrs at Namugongo on June 3, 1886 on the orders of King Mwanga of Buganda. How did Jesus appear in their mind?
As he translated his imagination onto the canvas, Kibuuka began to place African objects into the picture — instead of glasses and plates, he used the African gourds, wooden plates, and roughly hewed table. Jesus and his twelve disciples are depicted wearing African outfits with bright Africanised colours.
Then he deliberately brought them closer to each other, making them a close-knit family. With the exception of Jesus and Judas, he also deliberately made it difficult to identify the gender of the characters.
Then, instead of painting the westernised halo around Jesus’ head, he created a yellow light force emanating from the background, giving a spiritual atmosphere around the table.
Judas is shown looking away, as if he is beginning to consider betraying Jesus.
Today, Kibuuka feels most proud that his work is being adopted in the black communities. “I have been approached by pastors who say that the painting has enabled young people to feel connected to the Church. “They see themselves in the painting because Jesus is now someone closer to them,†he explains.
However, he feels that his proudest moment will be when the Last Supper catches on in Africa especially when it can be found hanging in every Christian home in Uganda.
Meanwhile, for Mr. Sciulli and many like him, the depiction of Jesus as an African speaks well of the true meaning of Christianity—it’s for everyone, he says.