Uganda

_{Posted on Thursday 07-06-2007}
 

'The world is the most beautiful piece of art'

Interview by AfricanColours

 

_{“To me  art  is  what you  call it, it  is  the creative thinking of  an artists mind, therefore, as long as our minds and creativity  stretches  our  ability we should let it be…” Those are the words of Hood Juuko, a Ugandan artist who has managed to travel the world in the name of art and has exhibited his work in different parts of the country. Read how he has managed to venture into the world of art in an exclusive interview.}

_{Why are you an artist?}

_{I’m an Artist because it’s the best way I can express myself and make a sensible statement without any regrets.}

_{Where did you learn how to be an artist?}

_{Did you study art formally?
People are born Artists, they are  not made, as we all have different talents in different categories, it’s a question of  how these young talents are polished to fine talents, there for I must say I  was an  artist  before I even studied it and the university helped me to polish my abilities by giving me specific directions on where my talents suit.}

 _{What are the challenges and benefits of being an artist?}

_{I must say its quite challenging for the start especially if your  taking Art  as a career, here  your perception towards art changes, it  drives you  to the   idea of  survival, giving birth to desires for money and if the sales  don’t reach your financial expectations that’s when the big word  CHALLENGE  arise from, besides survival  I must  say  I am  proud of  being  an artist  and I  have had a lot of benefits from  it, I  have  managed  to  travel the world in the  name of  art, exhibited my works in different countries and  I  have  managed  to start up a gallery at  the  Uganda  equator called GHECKO GALLERY,}

_{How has travel to these locations influenced your work?}

_{Traveling has  widened my  creativity in the  different worlds I have  been to, I  came  to realize every artist  has got different perception towards executing  an idea in different art disciplines ,it  has also given me courage to view art as an  endless life to live.}

_{On the AfricanColours website your work is very textural, even on the net you can tell there is a lot of depth on the canvas.}

_{I love the sense of sight and touch, that’s why I make my painting tactile and at the same time visibly textual.}  

_{How do you create that effect?}

_{I must say the all thing is a gradual process, step to step, letting the first layer dry and add on top another layer, this at the  end brings a tactile effect and at  the same time a solid transparency results.}

_{Does your family support your decision to be an artist?}

_{My mum and Dad were  the  first people  to  support me financially and gave  me encouragement ,my dad bought a painting  from my first  exhibition and that was amazing.}

_{Your thoughts on creating a viable art market through the internet?}

<sub>This is  what we Africans have  been lacking, people don’t  have  that much time  to visit our  studios and I think by marketing our art on the  internet will be  a very good tool to use that can sale our ideas in the outside world.

Is contemporary African art an independent art form or is it a mimic of European art?</sub>   

_{If African contemporary art was a mimic of the European art, then Europeans will be calling our art AFRICAN EUROPEAN CONTEMPORARY ART, but I have never had that, that means we are authentic.}

_{Should African artists stick to traditional art forms like: sculpture, textiles, beadwork etc?}

<sub>To me  art  is  what you  call it, it  is  the creative thinking of  an artists mind, therefor, as long  as our minds and creativity  stretches our ability we should let it be, lets keep on  creating new things for the future generation to refer from but not forgeting where we came from. 

Is art for art sake an African or Western Philosophy? Does it matter?</sub>

<sub>It’s a philosophy that matters everywhere, it depends on an individuals perception toward art does art to you mean to make a change or not? , if your perception towards art is one percent defiantly when it comes to doing art it will be art for art sake.

If you were not an artist what would be your career?</sub> 

<sub>A lawyer

Describe the most beautiful piece of art you have ever seen.</sub>

_{The world is the most beautiful piece of art I have ever seen, created by GOD.}

_{What would you say to the emerging or budding artist?}

_{EXPRESS THEMSELVES IN ANY WAY THEY CAN AND LIKE. That’s what makes you as an artist; create your own world with your art and let people live in it.}

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