Art and Life

Image from www.shanaschutte.com When you hear the word " but ", very often the rest of the sentence is not to your liking. "We received your application but...”, "the script was good but...”, "fantastic designs but...”, "exquisite meal dear but...”, "Kaz your blog is the best thing since Genesis but...". Well, you get the picture. Most creative people I know don't like to hear any criticism. Even after showering someone with praise;  the minute you say, "it was very good, but ...” you will have put  a  banana peel on the steps. If you weren't friends to start with, the criticism will be explained away as enmity or sour grapes. No matter how well meaning,  in Kampala, criticism is generally termed as " nugu " (jealously) regardless of the intent behind it. An Artist and Their Work Are One It is understandable why it is hard for an artist to stomach a negative reaction to their work. They have probably toiled o...

Ugandan bassist and singer Sammy Kasule One morning, I visited a musician friend of mine, Sammy Kasule who is a legendary Ugandan musician with over 4 decades of musical experience behind him. I found him with a bass guitar in hand busy practicing. He is talented, he is skilled and his experience is not in doubt; so why practice? From when we are very young, there are some things we do reasonably better than others without much effort. Parents normally look out for these to discern the child's gifts. Perhaps you learnt to read so fast whilst others were still untwisting their tongue; or may be numbers and algebra were like play time for you; some kids can remember and logically predict complicated sequences and tasks at a young age like playing chess;  perhaps you danced so well with innate rhythm whilst other babies were still discovering their limp joints; other kids can draw clear figures with a clear understanding of shadow and light whilst some of us had nonsensical z...

Image from Qwela hang edition 1 As far back as the contemporary music world has existed, people have made comparisons and pitched talented music acts against each other. It was there in the 1960s with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, in the 1980s with Prince and Micheal Jackson then in the 1990s Britney Spears and Christine Aguilera or even in the Hip Hop world came the  East and West coast comparisons. Closer to home in our little meagre world in Kampala, we have had Kafeero and Basudde, Bebe Cool and Chameleon, Bobi Wine and Bebe, Juliana Kanyomozi and Iryn Namubiru and most recently I am reading pits of Maurice Kirya against Kenneth Mugabi. Image from www.patheos.com Most times these comparisons and petty "fights" are actually totally nonexistent; just media fabrications either to sell stories, records, concerts and brands or just fanning the social mags for internet trolls to stay entertained. These days with the internet freedom we have, everyone now feels...

One of the trickiest thing in the creative industries is defining the value of the work we do and determining what to charge for it. When you are asked the question, "What do you do?" and you find yourself saying "I am a clerk but I play in a band on the side." not mentioning your art form as primary, you are always going to under price your art. From the moment I turned into a professional musician as opposed to a competent amateur, the question of what to charge for my services and products has been a recurring puzzle. Once I think I have figured it out, something changes in the industry, these days mostly the technology, which requires a rethink. Recently, I attended an arts business seminar which made me revisit this question; How do I set my price? This dilemma affects musicians, painters, designers, dancers, film makers, actors etc... Anyone who works in a creative capacity will have come across this once they got past the point of enthusiastic amateu...