Stephen Senkaaba
14 August 2008
Kampala — THE Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts (MTSIFA) at Makerere University has been unusually active the past couple of days, with students putting final touches to their work.
Now the work is ready and one of the most eagerly awaited art shows at the university will open. The Best of Me exhibition opens today at the university gallery.
It features works by MTSIFA students in their final year. The show aims at harnessing the students' talent and exposing them to the rigours of marketing and selling art.
It features works from different genres - painting, drawing, sculpture, jewellery, ceramics and textile
design. Ritah Namayanja the gallery attendant says this year's show will be exceptional.
There is an increasing urge by students to experiment without necessarily diverting from original concepts. Students have picked all kinds of material and turned them into artistic motifs.
Some textile design students have designed dresses out of recycled polythene bags, sacks and condoms. The sculpture and ceramics students have come up with furniture that can be used for decoration.
Students are marrying both the aesthetic and functional values of art. Their ability to blend academic concepts to practical work is evident in Sonia Akareut's fabric whose motifs are inspired by yellow rocks from Eastern Uganda.
All art work is on sale, ranging from sh15,000 for jewellery and fabrics to sh500,000 for paintings and sculptures.
Best of Me was conceived in 2005 by Patrick Banadda, the Head of Department of Painting and Art History at the university. The exhibition takes place every August.
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