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...

By Deleuran There are more music producers scattered all over Kampala than there are studios for us from which to produce. Considering the film industry, it too is growing rather fast and with it directors and producers are sprouting faster than seeds at Kawanda Agro Research. It is a good thing that there is a vibrant enough buzz to interest more people to join these industries. However, it would be better if people went into it knowing in what capacity they are joining the industry and what skills are required to execute particular tasks. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. These days everyone who can rig together a computer with a microphone and paste together some beats is a music producer. Similarly, many chaps are apparently film directors/producers because they own and /or can switch on a DSLR camera and point it at something. One has to start somewhere of course and indeed most of us had very humble beginnings. I can recall the miserably sorry recordings that I fir...

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...

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...