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Iryn Namubiru:PAM Awards Artist Of The Year 2011

A beaming Iryn Namubiru in white holds up high her accolade.

IRYN Namubiru says she has always had a passion for singing since her childhood and always strove to make this talent a bigger part of her life. And here she is, the PAM Awards Artist of the Year 2011.

Namubiru has beaten all to the prestigious annual music award. Kalungi Kabuye - Contributing Editor,Society and Lifestyle - was at the awards.


SUNDAY 1.04am: And the Artist of the year (drum roll)… IRYN NAMUBIRU! And she says it was the year of the girls, and that’s it folks, thanks for sticking with us, we leave as Iryin is soaking up the adulation.

12.54am: Okay, the last one, the big one, Artist of the year, but first a group is performing… did I mention the erotic dance by Trishlaa?

12.48am: Has Straka lost her touch? She’s cracking joke but the crowd does not seem moved, oh and Iryn picks a third award, Album of the Year.

12.44pm: Isaac Mulindwa, the smooth operator that he is, uses the break to go around greeting everybody in the VIP section, and I mean everybody!

12.29pm: Bebe Cool is Male Artist of the Year, did I mention he is wearing a tuxedo? And he dedicates the award to Bobi Wine and Chameleone, and Radio & Weasel… he tells them the most important thing is for an artists to show up, win or not. Oh well...


12.25am: Iryn wins Female Artiste of the Year, and goes with her mum to receive it. Four awards left to give out…

12.22am: Audio producer of the year goes to Paddyman, as it starts to rain outside, darn. I hadn’t looked up for a while but all VIPs finally showed up, place is full.

12.00am: Mid-night, and Bebe Cool sings Minzani. He doesn’t mind if he is not Artist of the Year as long as Iryn wins it. Oh yeah? Who’s he kidding?

SATURDAY 11.57pm: Strange category, the next one: Best Folk Pop artist of the year, anyway Maurice Kirya, who is out of the country on tour, wins it.

Walukagga again, this time for Kadongo Kamu Artist of the year, and the English attempts go on to the crowd's amusement. But it lasts for all of two sentences and it’s back to the mother tongue, Luganda.

11.50pm: We are getting close to the big one, me thinks, just about 5 categories to go. There hasn’t been a slow moment so far, with Gordon Wavamunno saying a few words, in Luganda.

11.47pm: Navio finally leaves his corner to go pick the hip Hop artists of the year award. How many coloured kanzus does this guy have? This one is blue!

And finally an award for Chameleone, Best Afro Beat artist of the year

11.42pm: Yeah, she did it, Kaitikiti is Song of the Year; welcome, Angela, to the big time. Let’s see, that is the second category that Iryn loses out on, will it all become good with the Artiste of the Year? But so far those are two for Angela, with possibly Album of the Year award, though I don’t remember her releasing an album. Oh well…

11.33pm: Who wants to bet that Angela wrote her acceptance speech? Finally, a Grammy moment…

11.30pm: Best Live Band single, and the award goes to… Katikiti, Angela Kalule’s first ever PAM Award and marking a remarkable year. Will it be Song of the Year? Watch this space…

11.28pm: And Iryn takes the Best R&B single for Birowoozo. Dennis Kavuma escorts Prince Wasajja to hand over the award and promptly takes over proceedings, ha ha ha

11.24pm: Has anybody ever heard Aziz Azion speak English? He thanks all his fans, in Luganda…

11.22pm: Angela Kalule does Katikiti and everybody in ‘kirussia’ is on their feet, good song but am I the only one who thinks that baseline is not really it?

Meanwhile Aziz Azion beats out Iryn for Best R&B artist of the year.

11.00pm: It’s eleven o’clock, can’t believe we’ve been here for the last 5 hours, as Bebe Cool dedicates his award to ‘maama wa baana bange’ Zuena, who is beside him on stage. Straka asks him when their wedding will be but he gives no clear answer. hard to believe a year ago this guy couldn't walk and his wife had left him. What's a year between friends?

10.58pm:Best Reggae Artist/Group ........ Bebe Cool!

10.50pm: Angella Kalule on stage right now...

10.45pm: We are into another break, after Radio & Weasel win Best Afro beat single for the song Talk n' Talk, but they are not around to receive it.

10.35pm: while talking to Mike Mukula, Kazoora eye's Mukula's watch.....

10.15pm: Phew, a break at last, and MUN G, Mr 'Too Much', gives us a song... and why is Navio and the Talent Africa group tucked up in a corner? "we don't like lights," he says. yeah, right...

......waiting for a break, stuff is happening fast...

10.05pm: Kazoora to Iryn: who do you think is your biggest threat for Artist of the year?

Iryn: just smiles

Best Song writer of the Year is Nice Henry (Birowoozo) and Best Gospel Artist Pastor Anthony Bugembe. Best Video of the Year goes to Agasi (Jackie Chandiru), Best New Artist Chris Evans (drat, he was sitting right next to me and didn’t know him) and Best Hip Hop Artist for Keko

Aloysiuos Matovu John picks the Lifetime Achievement Award.

9.50pm: Jaguar scoops Best Male Artist Kenya title ,Alpha for Rwanda, AY for Tanzania and Kidumu for Burundi. Amani for Best Female Artist Kenya, Miss Jojo for Rwanda, Lady Jay D for Tanzania, Miss Jojo for Rwanda and Aziza for Burundi.

For Best Live Band award, Umoja takes it for Kenya, Dream Boys for Rwanda, African for Tanzania and Akeza for Burundi and Eagles Production for Uganda.

9.40pm: Meanwhile Kazoora is interviewing Mike Mukula, and he (Kazoora) says Mukula’s wife is fine, at which people laugh and he quickly changes it to ‘smart.’ He he he

Awards are coming in thick and fast now, Northern Artist of the year, and the winner is… Lumix, who is also not in the house. Wait a minute, there he is, a bit unsteady on his feet but makes a speech in Luo, and takes his award.

West Nile Artist of the years is… GM Kennedy, not around…

9.32pm: Next up is Western Artist of the Year, to be handed out by DStv’s Ttina Wamala. The winner is… Queen Marion, who is not present but held up in traffic, according to MC Mugisha.

9.28pm: Best Eastern Artist award given by UBC’s Jane Kasumba who tells us who she is and where she works. Some rrr’s going down… and the first winner of the night is…. No Creature, who briefly thanks everybody, and his wife

9.15pm: Oops, almost missed that, the rep from Ernest & Young hands over a sealed case containing the results of the voting, and says nobody else has seen the results. Nice move, but will that stop the accusations of rigging? C’mon, this is Uganda, we don’t like fair results, and if we don’t win there must have been foul play. More dancers on stage...

9.12pm: Now we get to see who our hosts and hostess will be: Roger Mugisha is on stage, joined by JK Kazoora and the unstoppable Straka. Kazoora had a few bloopers last year, will see how he does this time. And Straka, what can we say about Sraka or what she’s wearing?

More on that later as the PAM Awards Chairman Isaac Mulindwa takes the stage. He’s a much older Mulindwa than we saw at the beginning all those years ago. He tells us how its been a long journey, how it will all be better this year, introduces the organising committee, and leaves the stage. A rep from Ernest and Young explains how the results were tallied, and we are set to roll…

9.00pm: So, the show finally takes off, glad to report the sound is a lot better than it was last year, and there are screens spread around the hall, so if you cant see he stage, you can at least see what is on stage. It starts with a dance routine, not bad, looks impressive, and some awesome dancers. Who are these guys? Nobody I’ve asked seems to know, and we don’t have the programme. Qwella’s Job passes by to say hello, and he doesn’t know them either, that they probably just came together for the show. Good beginning overall, and they are still people coming in…

7.24pm: Dinner is served, and the Qwella group is playing now. Guests still streaming in, and ‘kirussia’ is just about full. Interesting, some guests are in kanzus and busuttis, contrasting nicely with the short dresses and boring back suits.

6.50pm:The Barbed Wire Thong Band, weird name and all, are doing not a bad job outside (except for a momentary feedback that almost gave some guests a heart attack) as the cocktail comes to an end and the VIP guests start taking their seats. Dinner is supposed to be served around now, so what’s for dinner? For starters it is Chicken Tikka (Spiced Tandoor Chicken Grilled to perfection (not my words) in Tandoor Clay Oven; and vegetable spring rolls. For the Main Course we have beef curry, chicken dhania, parsley potatoes and mixed vegetables.

6.35pmid I say the VIP was empty? Silly me, of course it is empty because there is a cocktail outside, and the Barbed Wire Thong Band (I got that name correct) is serenading guests. The red carpet (which was set out as we entered) is quite busy now, and photographers are jostling for the best picture. Going by the outfits on display (especially the ladies) skimpy as you can dare is the dress code. When was the last time you saw so much flesh during the day? But getting dark now…

6.15pm: So the gates finally open, not at 6pm as advertised but about 15 minutes later. ‘They are still organising’, we are told. And there’s quite a crowd waiting outside, who said Ugandans always come late for events? Inside the VIP is quite empty, and waitresses are still laying out glasses and putting bread rolls on the side plates. But the ‘kirussia’ is about a third full, and quickly filling up.




PAM awards nominees bash without nominees

Maisha dancers
By Kalungi Kabuye

So on Tuesday night the organising committee of the 2011 Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) Awards held a bash for those nominated for the awards, which will be held next week. It was another of several ‘bashes’ that are traditionally held as a lead up to the main event.

There was the ‘launch’ bash, when the media and other people were treated to drinks and food and performances from artists hoping to feature in the final event. There was the ‘sponsors bash,’ where the media and the main sponsors were treated to drinks and food.

Then came the ‘media bash’, where the media was again treated to drinks and food, but on their own this timeThere used to be several ‘regional bashes’, where the media were taken around the country and treated to drinks and food, and introduced to regional artists. I’m not sure if this happened this year, or the year before.

Tuesday’s bash was the Nominees’ Bash (not to be confused with the Nominations bash, where nominations are officially announced), where we thought we were to meet the nominated artists, watch them perform their best so we could write about them in the media, and drink and eat with them afterwards.

I got there early, but didn’t see any of the nominees I knew were on the list. It turned out, according to Emcee Shamim, that it would be only new and upcoming artists to perform. Not ‘new and nominated’, no, but so new that they had not even been nominated because almost nobody had heard of them.

So we drank (some also ate a couple of sausages and samosas each) and watched performances which were really not bad, even if they were new. Of course the most spoken words at that time were ‘DJ, low, low,’ when whatever artist got to the floor way after the DJ had started playing his song.
But it was a good lot, although everybody seemed to be rapping, don’t people sing anymore? Artist after artist was dropping rhymes, some audible, some not, but mostly over some good beat that got the crowd dancing whether they understood what was being said or not.

The performances were brief, and by 10pm they were done, and Tuesday night at Silk Royale could happen as usual. For Tuesday is Campus Night, and for some reason it is the only place on Tuesday that artists will go to hang out, giving the stage to some memorable fights in the past.

I don’t know if there were any fights, because I left just after Manchester United had scored the third goal in their Carling Cup encounter (shown on several TV screens), and run into Jackie Chandiru getting in to ‘say hello to her fans’, and of course to drink and eat with the media.

Many more nominees probably showed up after I had left, for they keep late hours, those nominees, eating and drinking with the media.




Irene Namubiru 2011 PAM Artiste of the Year

Irene Namubiru shortly after winning the 2011 PAM Artiste of the Year accolade. Photo by Eddie Chicco

By Monitor Online Reporters (email the author)
Posted Sunday, November 6 2011 at 15:28
The Pearl of Africa Music Awards in their 2011 edition continued to provide spills and glamour as the awards crowned their second female artiste to claim the coveted Artiste of the Year trophy. Singer Iryn Namubiru claimed the accolade at the awards dinner that kicked off 3 hours late beating off stiff challenge from other nominees like Bebe Cool (2011 Male Artiste of the Year and 2010 Artiste of the Year), Angela Kalule and Jose Chameleone.



As has become customary, 2011 PAM awards threw up their own share of surprises. The most jaw-dropping was when 2011 Kadongo Kamu winner Mathias Walukaga dedicated his winner to beauty products boss Ssalongo Kasawuli better known as Samona. Ssalongo Kasawuli and Walukaga had a bitter falling out allegedly over a woman who had previously dated Walukaga. Walukaga went on claim that “Samona” had “stolen” her from him. Salongo Kasawuli actually walked onto the stage to bask in the limelight of this reunion.

Perhaps in a cheeky rehash of his infamous Sean Kingston watch incident, MC J Kazoora exchanged watches with former Health Minister Captain Mike Mukula who was among the VIP guests. Pressed to comment on his 2016 Uganda presidential ambitions, an uncomfortable Mukula left it up to the voters without ruling himself out of the race.



A preliminary list of the PAM Awards 2011 winners

Artiste of 2011:Irene Namubiru

Best male artiste of 2011:Bebe Cool

Best female artiste of the year:Irene Namubiru

Audio Producer of the year: Paddy Man

Best Gospel Single:Abita Ebikute by Dr. Hilderman

Kadongo Kamu Artiste:MathiasWalukaga

Best Folk Artiste:Maurice Kirya

Best Afro Beat artiste:Mukisa Gwo by Dr. Jose Chameleone

Best Hip Hop artiste:Navio

Song of the year:Katikitiki by Angela Kalule

Best R N’ B single:Birowozo by Irene Namubiru

Best R N’ B:Aziz Azion

Best Reggae group: Bebe Cool

Best Ragga Artist:Coco Finger for Emikono Wagulu

Best Kadongo Kamu single:Tomala Gasoma by Mathias Walukaga

Best Cultural Group:Kika Group

Best Afro-Beat Single:Talk N’ Talk by Mozey Radio and Weasel

Lifetime AchievementAward: Aloysius Joy Matovu

Best Hip-Hop Single:This is how we do it by Keko feat Goodlyfe

Best New Artiste: Chris Evans

Video of the year:Agasi by Jackie Chandiru

Best Gospel artiste/ group:Pastor Wilson Bugembe

Song writer of the year (Uganda):Nince Henry

Best Live Band (Uganda): Eagles Production

Best Live Band (Tanzania): African

Best Live Band (Rwanda): Dream Boys

Best Live Band (Kenya): Umoja

Best Female Artiste (Burundi): Aziza

Best Male Artiste (Burundi):Kidum

Best Female Artiste (Tanzania):Lady Jay D

Best Female Artiste (Rwanda):Miss Jojo

Best Male Artiste (Kenya): Jaguar

Best Female Artiste (Kenya):Amani

Best Artiste of the year (Tanzania): AY

Best Artiste of the year (Rwanda):Alpha

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Select Garments winds year up with show
Sizzling Entertainment
Written by Felix Eupal
Sunday, 13 November 2011 21:16
Robert Billy Ahimbisibwe is one of Uganda’s top entrepreneurs, turning his Select Garments from a small boutique in a downtown arcade at the beginning of the millennium into the leading provider of suits in town today.

The brand has grown to see bigger branches open up in upmarket shopping malls, with the Forest Mall shop even expanding into a bridal wing. Ahimbisibwe has made it tradition to hold a fashion show at Club Silk as the year nears the end. Last Thursday Select Garments was lined up again for Club Silk’s monthly fashion show and patrons, as usual, lined up to see what Ahimbisibwe had imported this time.

I love suits and kept an eagle’s eye on Ahimbisibwe’s designs to see that killer suit that would have me rob a bank. But when the models came out hardly any design lived up to the billing, the suits could be created with a good tailor in Kiyembe.

There was the casual wear, business wear and then weekend wear. But there was hardly any difference. The models did a great job but somehow the organizers lacked the precision. Anyone who loves his suits knows that you can’t wear a fitting suit with the sleeves of the shirt being longer than the jacket as the case was with many of the suits.

The wedding category which was saved for last also became a dampener when all the dresses came in the same design. They might have come in different colours – pink, purple and cream – but this is the 21 century; creativity rules. The crowd soon lost interest and many turned their focus on the sharp-dressing Capt Mike Mukula who was chief guest.

It was the musicians, who lightened up the night, starting with Mr Woods and his Situka song, Liane also performed, as did Leilah and Pearl of Africa Music awards male artiste of the year, Bebe Cool, who showed off Gagamel’s new kid on the block, Rema, with whom he performed Cease and Sekkle. She is good, one has to give that to her.

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New Air Uganda Commercial

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More than just a comfy diner
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The ambience at Simba Cafe like the food, is very inviting. photo by Ismail Kezaala

By KADUMUKASA KIRONDE II (email the author)
Posted Sunday, November 6 2011 at 00:00
IN SUMMARY

We might have skipped the fish at Café Simba Forest Gate Mall on Lugogo Bypass, despite it being my favourite dish but the steak made up for it perfectly as did the ambience of the diner.

Simba Café opened sometime this year and gets good marks for its ambience and set up. Friends of ours who have dined there spoke favourably of their food and service. Bearing this in mind, we ventured forth to see for ourselves.



Forest Mall is a relatively new property that is adjacent to the Lugogo Shopping Mall and by no means overcrowded. Simba Café is not in the main forecourt in the centre of the mall, but just around the corner and easy to locate.

The menu is fairly large and diversified with a generous selection for breakfast, snacks, entrees and a section for children though age is not specified. The seating arrangement is informal and comfortable with outsize chairs that are perfect for lounging. On the whole, we were pleased with the ample space accorded for diners and this is certainly an advantage where privacy is required.

Fish has always been a favourite of mine and looking at the price of Shs 28,000, I thought twice before ordering. Nevertheless, it was a sheer treat and the steak that we ordered was perfectly done, medium. Not easy to come by in this town. The service is friendly and brisk while the prices are above average for a café.




Arts year in review
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The John Akii Bua movie finally premiered in Uganda. COURTESY PHOTO

By Brian Magoba (email the author)

Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 00:00
Cross-Over Capitalism
The year has seen many collaborations between gospel artistes and secular ones, the signature one being Bobi Wine and Pastor Wilson Bugembe’s Ojjanga N’osaba. In similar fashion, one of the more memorable local concert collaborations was Lord Fred Sebatta and Bobi Wine’s Basisinkanye. Moses Golola of Uganda released Hot Temper, a collabo with Navio. At this rate a Maurice Kirya-Gerald Kiweewa collabo in 2012 is more possible than not.

Locals gone global
Although Chameleon was declared Africa’s 6th biggest artiste, Maurice Kirya represented even more, following his E-World Music Awards for Best World Music Artiste and Best Indie Group Progressive. Beatrice Lamwaka’s Butterfly Dreams and other Stories from Uganda was nominated for the Caine Prize for African Writing, Keko won a Channel O Award as Most Gifted East African video for How we Do it remix featuring Goodlyf’s Radio and Weasel. At home, All three earned Young Achiever’s Awards, in addition to DIVA and PAM Awards. More of this and less of the big-fish-in-small-pond strategy and in time Ugandan awards will be what Makerere degrees were 40 years ago—recognised worldwide.

A vision for television
Three Ugandan stations are now part of DSTV’s package, the latest entrant, Bukedde TV, closing the year with 16 per cent command of Uganda’s viewership, trailing first-choice NTV’s 26 per cent, according to a Synovate 2011 Media Survey. If notorious innovations like their Agataliiko Nfuufu news still magnetize as much this digital migration deadline next year, call-in-sick grade stuff awaits viewers.

A year of firsts
The first cultural calendar, cake festival, DJ Awards, UMOJA Flying Carpet experience, and the first Trinidad-and-Tobago style carnival in East Africa was called Kampala Carnival. In time the label of “THE social event of the year” will become more hotly-contested.

Shall we dance?
A Dance Week, a Dance Transmissions Festival, Uganda National Contemporary Dance’s monthly pieces, standing-room only Latin Flavour Wednesdays , fun-filled Latin Social Sundays, Hotsteps Season 4,TabuFlo Dance Crew receiving a Young Achiever’s Award , the gods of dance have been nice this year. And with dance classes everywhere; Hotsteps Season One winner Antonio Bukhar’s Antonioz Studio, Vantage Point, Viva Dance aerobics, Zumba, having two left feet will no longer be excusable.

Comedy and poetry
With not so big a circle of practitioners, for both genres one is never sure which performer belongs to a parent or breakaway group. For poetry theirs is Bonfire Night, Lantern Meet of Poets, Poetry in Session at Isha’s, and now there is Okwivuga at Club Gabiro in Bugolobi. Theatre Factory at the National Theatre, Mic Check at LaBonita, Punked Bunch at Club Silk, with all these on offer why wait for Amarula’s Akabadi K’omwaka?

Film
Cindy Magara’s Windows of Hope was good enough to make Cineplex Cinema’s list of movies in March, signaling a good year for films produced by Ugandans like John Akii Bua’s memorial movie,and US-based Solomon Jagwe’s animated movie Galiwango Obulamu Bw’ekisodde (The Life of a Gorilla), which featured at the African Film Festival. For mobile cinema, Amakula Kampala set the pace with CinemArena, an edutainment cocktail of cartoon videos, live dramas and traditional culture performances; and the Cinema Caravan Festival . Will 2012 the year we have a Ugandan winner at an international film festival?

Art
The FireWorks Annual Art Exhibition, Orange’s MishMash, the LABA Street Art Festival Ronex Ahimbisibwe ISMS 2011, Controversial Art Exhibition and hosts others at galleries spread all around; MishMash Gallery, Umoja Art Gallery, Design Agenda, Afri-Art, ArtPunch Studio, plus good old Tulifanya and Nommo Galleries. Art connoisseurs may soon have themselves a functional art district.

Online Publishing
urbanlegendkampala.com had its own launch party at Garden City’s BodaBoda bar, hipipo.com sponsored the DIVA Awards, while startjournal.org is financial friends with the Goethe Institute. Kampalaone.com aims to graduate where ugpulse.com left off, proggie.ug is plasying catch-up to ugandaonline.net. Popular opinion is that rise of blogs and online publishing spells imminent death for print media. While we wait to see if that will happen, we can debate the coolness of media folk’s introductions including the words “I work for the website...”

Fashion
Eva Mbabazi’s fishnet dress episode is so easily forgettable now, thanks to the breathtaking talent and products from names like Stella Atal, Santa Anzo, Latif Madoi Shuaib,Sylvia Owori, Brenda Maraka,and other discoveries-in-waiting. Xenson’s Futuristic Past show, Club Silk’s monthly Fashion Nights, and the Afrikan Fashion Walk Awards are examples of the heights Ugandan fashion must aspire to, nay exceed, in the years ahead. Hooray to not being a one-horse town in fashion terms anymore!!

Wish list for 2012
I have a dream in which watch-exchange routines are not the most interactive emcees can get with visiting artistes, in which fewer politicians emulate the President and sing campaign songs themselves (You Want Another Rap?) instead of reducing artiste’s talent to jingle compositions (Amelia, Balibaseka), and in which finally song about fathers will answer Babirye’s Maama and Iryn’s Nabulo.
A dream of promoters bringing more solid performers than flash-in-the-pan flukes like RDX and that Ashawo fellow.
Too much to ask? We wait.

[u.g boy]

A New Ugandan Animated Cartoon


This is a Pre~Poduction Version of the Galiwango, Obulamu Bw'ekisodde Film intended for Promotional purposes only. The film is still in Production. The Galiwango Film is a wildlife conservation effort with a goal of reaching out to the Youth, to sensitize them to the plight of the last remaining 786 mountain gorillas, as well as the hard work done by the rangers as they go about protecting these endangered wildlife treasures from poachers, the occasional rebel remnant groups and the inadvertent traps. I am also striving to shine a light to the impact of the deforestation of the Virunga and Bwindi jungles for the illegal charcoal trade, on local communities like the Batwa and the wildlife.

Visit the Galiwango Film website to read more about the film, and find out how you can help in bringing this film to completion. http://www.galiwango.com

Directed by Solomon W. Jagwe ~ http://www.sowl.com

[u.g boy]

A New Ugandan Animated Cartoon


This is a Pre~Poduction Version of the Galiwango, Obulamu Bw'ekisodde Film intended for Promotional purposes only. The film is still in Production. The Galiwango Film is a wildlife conservation effort with a goal of reaching out to the Youth, to sensitize them to the plight of the last remaining 786 mountain gorillas, as well as the hard work done by the rangers as they go about protecting these endangered wildlife treasures from poachers, the occasional rebel remnant groups and the inadvertent traps. I am also striving to shine a light to the impact of the deforestation of the Virunga and Bwindi jungles for the illegal charcoal trade, on local communities like the Batwa and the wildlife.

Visit the Galiwango Film website to read more about the film, and find out how you can help in bringing this film to completion. http://www.galiwango.com

Directed by Solomon W. Jagwe ~ http://www.sowl.com

[Kenguy]

Post your favorite Ugandan commercials here.

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Bell Lager, Ugandan Through and Through.

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Warid Telecom.

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Uganda Telecom, Its all about U.

[Kenguy]

Warid Telecom.

[inxius]

fines!

[Kenguy]

Originally Posted by inxius

fines!

[Kenguy]

UTL, Simply Ugandan.

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Kampala cityscapes
FRIDAY, 02 MARCH 2012 19:25 BY MARIA ALAWUA

An artist’s quest to give the future a visual inheritance as the old Kampala makes way for the new

It took Jjuuko Hoods, one of Uganda’s most productive, self-motivated and energetic artists, two years of soul-searching, looking back at his past artistic achievements and experiences, to acknowledge that a turn-away from the contemporary mainstream crowd of artists’ was not an option to be debated about but a must to be acted upon.

Jjuuko admitted that his two-year philosophical journey (2010-2011), during which he visited galleries and viewed exhibitions, left him with one conclusion. A hard but true reality had dawned on him. This reality was; that to move on in life as an artist, change was a necessity.

The series of paintings, currently showing in an exhibition at the Afri-art Gallery, all of which are executed on canvas and acrylics are statements of Jjuuko’s transformed mind-set, character, taste and confidence.

Jjuuko’s turn-around comes at a time when the now established Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is also in the business of trying to create a new look to a city densely populated with not only people but vehicles, especially the matatus, taxi vans.

It is therefore not at all surprising that this exhibition attempts to document the urban scenes of Kampala knowing full well that the matatus that are synonymous with Kampala could soon be joined by buses.

Cityscape painting

According to G. Fernández, “City Fresco” which is an aerial view of a coastal city found in 1997 at the Baths of Trajan, Rome, may be considered to be the first complete cityscape in the history of painting.

Fernández also asserts that although cityscapes did not achieve special dominant roles in compositions, during the Middle Ages, partial representations of cities can be found as backgrounds in many illuminated manuscripts.

Referring again to the same author, another Fresco painting known as “City by the Sea” and painted in 1335 by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (C1290-1348) is generally considered the first true cityscape of the history of Western Art.

In Uganda, to the best of my knowledge, the precise date or period when the first cityscape was painted or documented has not yet been established.

However, artists like Nuwagaba Francis Taga, Kateregga Ismael and Kibuuka Michael have in recent years executed impressionistic cityscapes.

Jjuuko’s Intentions and Inspirations

I presume that Jjuuko’s intentions to paint cityscapes obviously differ from the other cityscape artists mentioned in the previous section.

The reasons behind Jjuuko’s quest to paint scenes of Kampala with titles such as: “Wilson Road II”, “Zebra Crossing”, “Old Kampala View”, “Glory be to God”, “Blue Bus”, “In the Mist”, “Three Umbrellas” and “Smile it’s Kampala” are three-fold.

The urgent need to visually document cityscape scenes of Kampala before the much anticipated changes in Kampala actually takes place.

Expressing environmental concerns by advocating for a cleaner environment. He has done this through incorporating scrap metal, discarded bottle-tops and discarded wood (the art of recycling) in his recent sculptures.

A complete make-over. By reevaluating and redefining himself as an artist, Jjuuko has shown that artists can actually bring aesthetic value to art by occasionally being different.

Jjuuko hopes that the positive steps he has taken will serve as an eye-opener to other artists in Uganda. Chains can actually be broken thus opening avenues for opportunities to explore techniques, subject matter and colour schemes hitherto unknown to the artists.

About the paintings

Through these paintings, Jjuuko has clearly shown that he is a great visual narrator.

The matatus, only rivaled in numbers by the infamous boda-bodas appear to be the sole focus of the compositions.

The architecture, that appears to occasionally dominate some of the paintings and the numerous ‘faceless’ people, who appear to be motionless, with no distinguishing features, are also a part of the compositions.

The lives of the lower and middle class Ugandans, that daily depend on matatus are - for once - captured with such an aloof atmosphere.

An occasional portrayal of buses brightly painted in reds and blues in some of Jjuuko’s paintings, is perhaps his way of making a statement that soon they could take center stage in the lives of Kampala’s commuters.

The artist chooses to show us a mysterious and indecipherable Kampala in which all objects are semi-abstract and impressionistic.

Traditionally, Jjuuko’s taste for colour has bordered on the savagely raw and pure. Although patches of bright colour do appear in some of the paintings being showcased at Afriart Gallery, their intensity has obviously been subdued by the dominant use of dull colours including white and black.

About the sculptures

The sculptures are quite appealing in their simplicity. Jjuuko incorporates in these wood sculptures scrap-metal and other found materials such as nails, copper wire, sisal-string and pieces of bark-cloth.

Another very interesting feature in this exhibition is the coffee table. One of a kind, the surface also appears to be charred, while at the centre, is what appears to be a hollowed out area in which roasted coffee beans are placed. I may doubt the ability of this piece to function as a table, but it is indeed an inspiring work of art the old age that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, notwithstanding.

[u.g boy]

Imagine Straka in HD
Sizzling Entertainment

SUNDAY, 22 APRIL 2012 18:51 WRITTEN BY SAMSON BARANGA 0 COMMENTS
Just a few months after celebrating its 13th anniversary and moving into its state-of-the-art studios in Naguru – which also coincided with the switch from analog to digital broadcasting – Wavah Broadcasting Services (WBS) TV has recorded yet another milestone. It has become the first independent, indigenous television station to be broadcast on South Africa-based DStv. This follows a memorandum of understanding signed between DStv franchise owner MultiChoice Uganda, and WBS TV on Monday. This means viewers with decoders get to catch their favourite shows such as Straka Mwezi’s Late Show, on DStv’s much clearer channels, even in far-flung parts of the country that previously could not pick the WBS signal.

To celebrate the achievement, Prof Gordon Wavamunno, the proprietor of WBS and Chairman Spear group of companies, hosted a lavish party for selected viewers and some of Kampala’s socialites. The champagne-popping event took place at the station’s home in Naguru last Thursday evening. The host described the move as a big achievement for the station.

“We are proud to be the first home-grown independent TV station to be aired on DStv. This is a big achievement for us and it’s a big step in taking our quality programming to the rest of the country and world at large,” he said.

The party kicked off a little after 7pm and there was more than enough to eat and drink. The best part was when Wavamuno unleashed some rare dance strokes, definitely never seen before. You no longer have to imagine Straka in high definition (HD); just watch Channel 153 on DStv and 251 on GOtv. With more local stations going digital, demand for local content is bound to increase.