Touching America's heart with Ugandan art

By Stephen Ssenkaaba
 
“ART that touches the heart.” That has been the catchphrase for prominent batik painter Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi’s inspiring work- and more than 30 years down, this self-taught artist continues to dazzle the public with his rhythmic, introspective and very moving pictures.

Nnyanzi arrived in the United States at the end of last week. And there, he will hold an exhibition and a workshop to teach local American communities about the craft of using batik as an art form.
 
The August 3 and 4, 2013 contemporary batik workshop to be facilitated by Nuwa Nnyanzi will be at the Community Education and Conference Centre, Edmonds Community College. Seattle, WA. It is organized by Gretchen Johnston, Director Community Education and Conference Centre at the college.
 
The second one will take place between Aug 16 and 19 in Newnan, near Atlanta, Georgia organized by Don Nixon the director of the Performing Arts Centre in Newnan GA. Here Nnyanzi will present a demonstration to high school and middle school visual art students on the history of batik¸ how to make it and some useful batik techniques.
 
“This is not just about my work; this is also about using my skill to teach other people and to showcase the rich Ugandan culture,” he said.
 
He will hold another training workshop for local communities in the centre for performing and visual arts, Newnan in Georgia from April 14th to 21st.

Nnyanzi’s workshops will be held against the backdrop of themes, materials and ideas based on Ugandan culture- the people, music, flora, fauna and various aspects of our society. In both instances, participants will have a chance to learn and experiment with using batik and for the many that hope to continue using batik as a medium this will be a good starting point.
 
Nnyanzi has been working with batik since 1978 when he set out to do art while he still lived in Nairobi. He has since used batiks to paint moving images particularly on Ugandan culture, religion and life.

He has taught many people, has been a minister in Buganda Kingdom government and held various position of responsibility on several culture, tourism and art association boards. He currently runs an art studio- Nnyanzi Art studio at the National Theatre Cultural Village in Kampala.