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Kamugisha: Putting Kigezi’s beauty, culture on canvas
Edward Kamugisha Ssajjabbi displays his painting on women activities in Kigezi sub-region. Photo BY ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
Resilient. He may have failed to join university to study Fine Art but Edward Kamugisha Ssajjabbi’s passion for art lived on. He has attended international exhibitions in the USA, showcasing Kigezi culture and earned from it
As a 12-year-old, Edward Kamugisha Ssajjabbi knew he would become an artist. He used to mix different types of flowers to get the colours required for a painting. During his secondary school days he operated an art studio in his home town of Kabale which earned him money.
And because of spending much of his time at the studio than revision, Kamugisha failed to make it to the university but was admitted to National Teachers College Kabale for a Diploma in Fine Art.
Today, Kamugisha is promoting Kigezi tourism, culture, environmental conservation and community activities through paintings that he sells to tourists that visit Kigezi sub-region for mountain gorilla tracking.
“I ventured into making paintings portraying the tourism and community activities in Kigezi sub-region because most of my clients are tourists that want my work to compare with life in their home countries,” Kamugisha says.
Kamugisha, 51, is married and together with his wife they have four children. He says all the money to fend for his family especially paying school fees for the children and welfare is generated from the paintings.
Earning big
Edward Kamugisha Ssajjabbi displays the master piece that has earned him Shs14.4 million in one year. Photo by Robert Muhereza.
One time, Kamugisha says he earned about Shs14.4 million from one painting that shows the interaction of people in a local market in Kigezi sub-region.
“I sold one in Singapore at Shs6 million and another piece with the same content to the USA at Shs5.4 million as well as another one to my former student who stays in Philippines.”
Kamugisha adds that he applies tactile texture on every finished painting to make it unique and original as his trademark and the lowest price for his paintings is $300 (about Shs1 million).
Although he had been earning from his art, Kamugisha says in 2003 he hit a record when he sold a painting at $5,000 (about Shs17 million) at one of the exhibitions in the USA. “The painting depicted a woman carrying a baby on her back, a basket on her head and a hoe on her shoulder going out for gardening,” he says. “This painting opened gates for me into USA fine art exhibitions. That is why I was able to exhibit my art works in 2006 and 2009 during international exhibitions in the USA.”
Kamugisha first taught Fine Art in different schools in Kigezi after graduation in 1995 before abandoning the profession to concentrate on commercial art painting for better pay.
“Teaching in secondary schools was occupying most of my time. I had no time to concentrate on studio work,” he says.
But in 2009 Kamugisha joined Uganda Christian University and attained a First Class degree in Fine Art and was retained as a lecturer at Bishop Barham University, College in Kabale.
In future, the artist plans to form an association that unites all artists in Kigezi sub-region as well as establish a gallery for Kigezi sub-region in Kabale Town.
But not all has been rosy for Kamugisha in the painting business.
He says high prices of paint and other materials poses a big challenge to his job. Kamugisha also says it takes him about three months to complete a master piece and a week for the small ones.
The numbers
Shs17 million
The highest amount he has ever sold a painting.
Shs1 million
The lowest price for Kamugisha’s paintings.
