Contemporary African artists strive to identify art as a profound and particularly sensitive means of expression. Today, this cultural method is used to denounce the realities of African life and raise awareness. Art becomes a subtle means of drawing attention to the cruel reality of the world.
Collin Sekajugo is a Ugandan artist who belongs to this revealing sphere of expression through art. Born in 1980 in Masaka in southeastern Uganda to a Rwandan mother and Ugandan father, Collin Sekajugo grew up in a community environment that would later influence his artistic technique. The community now occupies such an important place in the Ugandan artist’s life that he dedicates his art to it. He acquired his artistic knowledge through study trips to many countries in southern and eastern Africa. This experience enabled him to build his own artistic technique based on the creative ideas he discovered on his travels, a unique art form reflecting today’s society.
Collin Sekajugo’s art questions themes of social, cultural, economic and political identity in a wider global context. He often portrays himself as the main character in these paintings, as a metaphor for his complex ethnic background, obstructing any presumptions about such a complex identity. Collin Sekajugo also paints impersonal subjects whose body parts are hidden to highlight the duality between themes of identity and discrimination based on class or social belonging.
In his unique artistic approach, Collin Sekajugo uses locally sourced materials such as polypropylene bags, a recycling process that contributes to the insertion of consumer materials in line with the principle of assertive contemporary art. The artist also uses collage paintings that reflect his attachment to the community. In this way, he creates a visual narrative with which the public can identify, working with found objects such as waste paper and denim fabrics.
By using art to communicate and raise awareness of social issues, Collin Sekajugo shows that art can have a powerful impact on society. He is an inspiring example of how art can be used to assert cultural identity and help people overcome social prejudice. Collin Sekajugo‘s paintings invite viewers to discuss sustainability as a preconceived image of an artless Africa.
