Rehearsing the future: Why not collect?

The Roduza Collection by Rodney Muhumuza showcases the best of our times while instigating conversations on the urgency of a national collection in Uganda.

ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | The culture of art collecting has not yet found its firm grounding in Uganda. Certainly, there’re a handful of Ugandan collectors but their collection may not invite as much attention since several of these notable professionals have not been collecting art for a longtime and their experience of art is still at an embryonic stage. Equally, the lack of national collection raises eyebrows about our real understanding and appreciation of what art collecting is and what it means to a country’s heritage.

Within the context of the latter, the Roduza Collection, emerges as a benchmark for what it means to collect and obviously why not collect? – a bold response to the typical non cultured rich Ugandans who spend millions of shillings on cheap art prints from China or Dubai but can never spend any fraction of their money on original art from Uganda. Rodney Muhumuza’s holding aka Roduza Collection is arguably by far one of the most thoughtful collections one may encounter from any Ugandan; save for Pietro Averono and Klaus Houlderbaum- both Ugandans by naturalization -collections which have gained critical acclaim from art critics and curators across the region.

The names of artists in this collection rage from the art masters like George Kyeyune, Leonard Kateete, Godfrey Banadda and Wasswa Ronald Katumba to both middle career and emerging talents like Ocom Adonias, Ismael Kateregga, John Bosco Muramuzi and Sheila Nakitende. Beyond this spectacular line up of artists- a brilliant balance between the old and new generations of artists- is the discerning eye for quality that the collector uses to pick each artist’s work to include in his holding. It is through this careful selection that the collector’s singular taste for art comes to life.

The choice of Leonard Kateete painting Totem Tree 2023 for the cover of the poster of the exhibition speaks volumes about the collector’s deep knowledge about what great art is. The subject matter of this artwork is the celebration of the afterlife, a central component in African spirituality. Therefore, the artist depicts a burial site of a Giriama traditional healer with a Totem tree in the foreground and in the background tomb sculptures line up the burial grounds haphazardly. The uniqueness of this painting is not only in the powerful story which is embedded in its figurative representation- implicitly emphasizing the school of thought that African art has always been figurative- but also the simple composition which ironically exudes mystery and suspense with the evident use of pure colours that sparkle adding to the supernatural character that delicately permeates through the artwork.

But Muhumuza is obviously more inclined to the work of George Kyeyune and this is evident with the number of paintings he owns from the artist. Their number surpasses any other artworks he has collected from artists in the past seven years and interestingly still bellies a huge appetite for the artist’s work. In the introduction to the exhibition, published in the catalogue he fondly refers to the art Professor/ artist as “Arguably Uganda’s greatest living artist”. He goes on to describe him as “a prolific expressionist with an impasto technique similar to a literary novelist when he renders urban mass in a way that is evocative of our time and place.” In singing praise to Kyeyune and his exceptional talent, the collector communicates to us what he’s looking for in an art piece when he chooses to buy it. Unlike a regular buyer of art who buys for investment or to show off, Muhumuza is interested in buying art that he’s deeply connected to. A casual conversation with him will certainly reveal this fact, especially with the animated manner in which he talks about each artist and their work. His vivid memory on how he acquired each piece in his collection and the rapport he has with artists even after the acquisition of their work is a gesture to his deepest regard of their work and the sincere interest to see the artist grow alongside the local art scene.

Ugandan art has for so long been bereaved with no one to care for it the way it should. The absurdity of an absence of a national collection and a museum of art is inexcusable as much unforgivable especially during this era when there’s a lot of spotlight on contemporary art from Africa. How is it possible for Ugandan art to achieve its due respect in the region and beyond without such critical infrastructure? The Roduza Collection partly instigates this conversation that for so long has been swept under the carpet under the guise of lack of government support for the arts. With the exhibition, Rehearsing the Future, the collector is whispering to Ugandans, especially his middle class contemporaries, to wake up and start doing something about the fate of Ugandan art. If Ugandans don’t buy art, the future looks gloomy because we shall have no national heritage to identify us with. So, why not collect?

****

The exhibition Rehearsing the Future is showing at Weganda Gallery located on 20 Binayomba Rise off Luthuli Avenue, Behind Royal Suites Hotel, Bugolobi, Kampala. Images are by Hajarah Nalwadda.