Art and Life

Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine MP/Pop star In Uganda it is inconceivable for most minds to deem music, drama, dance, painting and other arts as a profession. So much so that at Makerere University, one of the highest institution of learning in the country, the former Music Dance and Drama department (MDD) was disdainfully referred to as Musiru Dala Dala meaning “exceptionally dense”. It didn’t help that anyone who failed in other fields was forcibly injected into the MDD faculty hence undermining it further. It is this derogatory perception that brings many to ignorantly assume that artists are incapable of intellectual contribution to an area such as politics. Many forget that artists are continually contributing to important discourses in society using mediums that are accessible to the masses. It is also forgotten that many of us in the arts are actually fully qualified in other fields too. In recent political events in Kampala commentators such as the mutable Tamale Miru...

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...

 The daunting empty page and the luring phone. Procrastination ; simply put, the act of avoiding and postponing a task that needs to be done. Delaying to submit that application, write that report/essay, learn that instrument; postponing a practice routine, exercise, diet plan, visit a relative, finish that painting, put on that exhibition or concert, write that book, face that challenge, confront a fear etc... Usually these are put on a bench and in their place we insert whatsapp, facebook, video games, movies, TV, the bar, beach, candycrash... Basically more important life saving deeds, the crucial fun stuff. Artists haven't got a monopoly on this postpone-for-no-reason-whatsoever foolishness, it can affect anyone. But artists have truly perfected the art of delaying stuff. This is a disease for many creative people and I am not immune. It sure is something that I battle with from time to time. I was thinking a lot about why on occasion, it takes me so long to do cert...