Makerere university dons show talent in annual `Different but One’ exhibition

The all-don annual art festival at Uganda’s premier art institution, the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art at Makerere University in Kampala, is back.

Over twenty five dons are showcasing their works in a multiplicity of disciplines - painting, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, textile design, fashion, printmaking, among others. Even the indefatigable Jewish charitable lady, Rebecca Uziel aka Rivka, who initiated the event is in town.

So what is different this year? That is the question among those that have followed these shows. But newcomers too might probe further with queries like; what is “one” about the different works on display? Is there any invisible string that actually binds these works of art? May be, may be not.

Another question, probably the most intriguing of all, is whether the art festival by the very instructors and custodian of modern art at Uganda’s fountain of artistic honour have presented the best of the best. For answers, we shall examine each of the queries.

Firstly, unless the dons were inspired to work purposely for this show, we shall be hard-pressed to pinpoint a body of works that is worlds apart from what we have seen before. With the well known busy schedules and heavy teaching load of most dons, we might expect that majority will pick a few pieces from their old pile and present that. About the “oneness” in the different works on display, again one will be short of answers as to how, for instance, a sculpture work will connect with a textile or fashion piece. But then artists often have their way with things - talk about the elements and principles of design that are inherent in an art work regardless the discipline! Art principles have a universal character that makes art from diverse corners of the world akin.

Should we suppose that Different but One presents the best possible quality of work, in terms of rendering, media, content and appeal?  This question about expectations of the country’s greatest aesthetic outcomes is by far the most difficult to answer.

Since the dons occupy the highest pedestal of excellence, they should be judged as such. But given that terms like “good” are relative in the field of art, we might as well settle for the literally ambiguities.  We might as well flee into such philosophies as those espoused by Pablo Picasso who famously remarked: “We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realise truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand.”  Talk of modern art smacking of escapism! Matters are rendered even more knotty when some artists claim that their primary objective is not to create beauty but rather express themselves. In other words, viewers should not expect all art works to be beautiful or to conform to a certain standard of beauty. Based on such arguments, the dons showcasing at the Different But One 14 are well insulated from critical eyes. The show is on and runs into March.

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