Retrospective on "Vanishing Africa" John Mubiru.

I present a short but memorable visual journey from my home country Uganda through Kenya capturing those moments before arriving in the United States. Years of trekking around the world, experiencing different cultures and traditions have eventually forced me to reflect about Uganda the country of my birth and Kenya my location for an African experience. My Uganda is a small landlocked country lying strategically in the middle of the African continent. It is the custodian of some of the most picturesque landscapes, wild life and source of the mighty River Nile. Kenya on the other hand is the tourist capital of the East African coastline with diverse cultures and landscapes also home to world famous wildlife.

Having lived in both these countries, the artworks presented for this show hold memories inspired by a collection of subjects about the people, animals and landscapes of Eastern Africa. The exhibition records both worlds as memories of a Road from Home. My home is changing and so is my art. Climate change, wars and political mismanagement have impacted on societies and the natural environment transforming it into a cultural and environmental desert. However, I still focus on the good memories of my childhood in Africa and use them as a source of my inspiration.

I have made the paintings to not only reflect my individual world but that but also the lives of those people. In the batiks, I use earth colors which gives a natural vibrancy and vitality to them, reflecting various aspects of life recall my earlier social and artistic life. I am showcasing those moments that are still vivid about Uganda and Kenya specifically focusing on moods of warmth, calmness, excitement, somberness to entice a connection with the viewer. In these artworks, I have presented various interpretations of people and animals in motion and, landscapes in various degrees of bloom. I seek organization inspired by the colors of the flora and fauna depicting in natural colors of an African landscape.

The cows and ‘cow-people’ is about the ‘good-feeling’. The standing or marching or dancing Masai are meant to look very stalwart as they appear to be dancing. The colors of the African fabrics still worn today is a memory that I could not escape from in this work. I had to fall back on the gentler and calming effect of colour to balance out the riot of movement. I cannot forget the multitude moving animal shapes. I have used essence of the African landscape to reach out to my audience. My compositions are light and accessible to enable anyone be part of my journey and to share memories of a disappearing Africa.