Art and Life

The National Theatre (UNCC) in its original glory, Kampala. How much does a space contribute to an art piece presented in it? Could the space be considered to be part of the art piece? What role does space play in art, art expression and consumption of art? These are questions we considered in a recent discussion on Culture UnlimitedRadio with Bayimba Culture Foundation director Faisal Kiwewa. With recent talk of the long overdue rehabilitation of the National Theatre or its impending demise depending on which report you choose to believe, it is relevant to talk about the spaces we use for artistic expression. Often when an artist has work to present in Kampala, there are some usual suspects one considers. The National Theatre or UNCC (Uganda National Cultural Centre), a ridiculous name if you ask me, is the first to come to mind regardless of what art form one is presenting. It has been used for dance, music, drama, art exhibits, festivals, film, symposiums, rehearsals and d...

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...

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...

Photo by Maurine Kintu This is the third time I am starting this blog! I will start with this, ironically, previous post. I have read other people's blogs and commented on many for a long while but I haven't really felt the need to start one of my own. So why start a blog now? Well, I enjoy writing and sounding out ideas that are otherwise simply chaos in my mind. I haven't really had it in me to write a straight book but perhaps a blog would be good practice for me to work toward fulfilling that goal someday. One can dream can't one? I opened the blog account in 2008 but I am only starting to use it now. That is some serious procrastinating! Let me see how long I will manage to maintain this. Book by Louisa Le Marchand A very good friend of mine Louisa Le Marchand published a book of poems Whispers in The Mists of Time  and it really inspired me to collate my ideas and attempt to write something to completion. I have tried before but the most I ever d...