As war, corruption and xenophobia blight many communities across Africa, Uganda’s flamboyant General Elly Tumwine has taken to the brush to paint a plea for harmony and dialogue.
He has even roped in the long-horned cattle, a symbol of grace and harmony that is synonymous with the Ankole culture, deeply rooted in the old Chwezi dynasty.
These cattle usually stand in a circle after their routine watering session or in the early evening when they have returned from grazing.
Their horns then interlock but not in fighting sense. They are just having “a conversation”; it is a family meeting and they are in harmony.
This is one of the paintings at Tumwine’s exhibition at the Nommo Gallery in Kampala, dubbed “Dialogue and Partnership,” in which the army officer-turned-painter explores the significance of dialogue to build harmony and fight corruption.
“We will fight the biggest wars in our country but we won’t fire even a single bullet,” he says. “We will fight corruption using dialogue. We will build partnerships and have dialogue to fight all these problems.
“ What is on display today is meant to provoke our minds into the importance of dialoguing, sharing in order to live together, win together and get more understanding for a smarter globe.”
For this particular exhibition, Tumwine has dropped the light brush for heavy strokes.
The colours themselves are far from bright, to suggest a burdened, afflicted mindset. In his case, the affliction is corruption and disharmony, which call for a special council to eradicate.
The message is delivered in several paintings, but one of them, Baraza (Kiswahili for meeting/gathering), is most clear-cut, in showing that as different minds gather to share thoughts and enter a partnership, they overcome their limitations. “The more we talk, the more we solve problems.”
It is also easy to say that the paintings, all carrying the message of dialogue, are a fitting curtain raiser for the Smart Partnership Dialogue in Kampala involving the developing world.
Smart people dialogue to solve problems, even if they must learn how to do that from non-humans, says Tumwine.
Away from the paintings the exhibition features a range of fabrics from Gen Tumwine’s Creations Ltd.
Colourful men’s shirts dominate, although children and women’s wear are also made to order out of specially dyed fabrics.
In terms of colour or even finishing pattern, no one shirt is like the other, although the flamboyance of the cut runs throughout.
The former fine art teacher developed his own line of designer shirts and dumped suits and ties.
Creations Ltd is promoting a pan-African dress, but these shirts have landed their designer in one or two problems.
Among the many hats that he wears, Gen Tumwine represents the army in parliament and at one point he was thrown out of the House, where the House rules did not recognise his sense of fashion.
Between his legislation and painting schedules, Gen Tumwine finds time to design clothes, strut the catwalk and strum the guitar too, to sing about Africa’s beauty, corruption and malaria. The exhibition also features two young artists, Julius Katende and Eddie Mulungi, who works in banana fibre.
He is the only serving Ugandan army officer who is also a recording artiste, and he occasionally does the odd live gig.
Now though, he is part of the Smart Partnership Dialogue due next week, but he will tell you he spent the first three weeks of this month painting.
Perhaps his brush suffers in the process as he churns out fewer paintings now than he did before. The paintings are short on variety, compared to the fabric and shirts collection.
To stay with the subject of partnership, the exhibition features two young artists Julius Katende and Eddie Mulungi one of whom does his art pieces in banana fibre.
