An art sham and shame

Mar 04, 2007

The idea behind the ‘all artists exhibitions’ is to highlight as much artistic talent as there is in the country and to promote upcoming visual artists.

The idea behind the ‘all artists exhibitions’ is to highlight as much artistic talent as there is in the country and to promote upcoming visual artists.

“We aim at bringing out the best of each of the artists by looking out for new ideas, styles and artists,” says Emanuel Mutungyi, the director of Nommo Gallery.

He says such exhibitions are open to all interested artists. And yet you do not get that feeling these days. Far from their supposed all-embracing nature, the exhibitions feature a few artists that have been carefully selected by curator.

While there are a number of artists that snub participating in such exhibitions, many willing participants are left out sometimes because the curators are not pleased with their work. And because most curators look to a few artists, certain artists’ work feature in more than one exhibition.

The appearance of works by Sadat Anawar, Hoods Juuko, Edson, Mugalu and Ronex Ahimbisibwe in exhibitions at Afriart, Design Agenda and Nommo galleries within the same period when so many others have not participated casts a shadow over the otherwise good intentions behind all artists exhibitions.

“You can’t feature everybody, you select,” explains Design Agenda’s Beth Mbabazi. How then does it become an all artists exhibition?

Poor preparation characterised by arbitrary selection criteria, poor communication and artists’ reluctance to participate has led to poor shows.

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