Ugandan Art

So, I just recently returned from two weeks in Uganda (which I'm sure I'll be writing more about), but I spent this afternoon remounting a piece of art that I bought while I was there and wanted to share both the piece and a few thoughts I have about it.

I should begin by saying that I had no intention of picking up any artwork on this trip. Being the son of an artist, I don't lack for pieces to display at home. Instead, I intended to simply buy a few gifts for family. So, when our team arrived in Jinja and began to do some shopping, I was looking primarily at soccer jerseys for Xander and dresses and skirts for the girls. I really didn't intend to buy any art. But then I met Ben.

Ben was an incredibly energetic, affable guy in his early 20's and he did a much more effective job than any of the other street vendors of getting my attention and getting me into his shop. Ben proceeded to tell me he was an artist and showed me some of his pieces that were pretty obviously pieces created to sell to tourists and to put some food on the table. I really liked the guy and agreed to buy a small piece thinking I could afford one small piece for my office to support a guy scraping out a living with just his charisma and a little bit of paint.

As I was settling up with Ben though, another piece in the corner caught my eye. This one:

I asked Ben if this was another piece he had done and he told me it had actually been done by his friend Mike. I asked him how much it was going for (more out of curiosity than anything) and he told me it was 170,000 Ugandan schillings (about $50). I was actually a little shocked at how cheap it was and I was genuinely interested at this point, but (again) I hadn't intended to buy any artwork on this trip, so I told him that I was going to give it a little bit of thought.

Ben began to panic and took my genuine intent to give it thought as some sort of haggling technique and called out to the street where Mike was hanging out nearby. Ben asked how much Mike would be willing to let it go for and Mike said 150,000 schillings (about $45). I felt like I almost had to buy it before they just gave it to me and so I wound up buying two pieces that night instead of the zero pieces I had arrived intending to buy.

Ben and Mike posing with a few pieces

Once I agreed to buy this piece, Mike started showing me other pieces of his in the shop. Mike is a self trained artist who makes his living by selling his art to tourists. The other pieces that he showed me are pieces I imagine he would have an easier time selling to a larger number of people, but I don't think any of the other pieces I saw that night came anywhere close to showing the talent and potential that this guy possesses like the piece that I bought. I honestly believe this piece is closer to his heart as an artist than any of the other pieces that he has to crank out to be able to earn a living.

I definitely considered myself lucky to find this piece that will not only remind me of my time in Uganda, but also give me plenty to chew on when it comes to the kind of work artists need to do to make a living vs what they need to do to continue to grow and express themselves creatively. My hope for Mike is that he'll continue to find people willing to buy the pieces that express his more creative side and that eventually he'll be able to create only the art that he wants to instead of the work that he needs to.