Kampala — The Uganda's 47th Independence anniversary exhibition now running at Makerere Art Gallery at first appears to be the usual everyday stuff of paintings on the wall here and ceramic ware there - that is until you go past the first room.

When you enter the second room, you are rudely confronted by an eerie spectacle that could cause you to hold your breath for a moment. You will most likely exclaim: "What have they done to art."

A bark cloth-clad coffin, open on the top end dominates the centre of the second room. It is raised on a pedestal. Inside it is the "corpse"; a burnt, dismembered and pregnant object wrapped in garb that have the Uganda national colours of black, yellow and red.

A beautiful wreath is placed by the leg side with a condolence book and pigeon box adjacent to it. At the headrest are the Ugandan flag and a headstone with glass-framed text reading in bold characters: "THE WILL." Some text follows beneath the title and concludes in a rather insolent manner: "DO NOT REST IN PEACE."

This spectacle, executed by Mathias Muwonge Kyazze, a lecturer at the Makerere art school, is arguably a first in a local gallery. It is among the body of works that are showing at the Makerere art gallery in commemoration of Uganda's 47th Independence anniversary.

Whereas independence anniversaries are intended to celebrate Uganda's freedom from colonial bondage, the majority of the artists showcasing in this exhibition seem to have a shared opinion to the contrary.

It is as if the artists, recognising that they are not politicians, decided to deploy the silent weapon of visual communication to suggest a huge sense of mourning for Uganda, the nation in most of the works.

Where the politicians and activists shout themselves hoarse, castigating the significance of celebrating independence, the artists capitalised on the age-old claim that "a picture speaks a thousand works". The result is a collection of visual voices that appears to have succeeded at out-shouting the politicians' microphones and the columnists' pens. The works express emotions far beyond words. Some of the works voice their discontent towards the establishment, a few applaud Uganda's Independence.

"The work is meant to provoke thinking and further the debate about Independence," says Muwonge in explanation of the symbolism he used in the grisly mutilated, burnt and pregnant carcass.

He says he used the pregnant dead body to symbolize the dashed hopes that replaced the freedom and optimism that the departure of colonialists was meant to bring to the nation. But the intensity of emotion and meaning that this work exudes cannot be fully described.

The totality of the exhibition affords visitors a window into the feelings and imaginations of the several exhibiting artists. It explains the charade that such an important day has become for many.

Muwonge's cynicism about Uganda's politics was not born yesterday. Some will recall how, in 1985, he painted a mural titled "Misfortune" in which he used a spider's web to visualise Uganda's imprisonment in a cycle of violence and destruction. It was a vitriolic, albeit abstract attack on the establishment of the time.

Whereas the rest of the art works on show are for sale, Muwonge's has no price tag attached. He is principally a stained glass artist and painter and his creation of a sculpture of this caliber came as a surprise to all that know him. The other exhibitors include fellow lecturers and art students. The exhibition runs till end of October and as usual entrance is free.