Kivumbi, the blind artist

Kivumbi’s art work includes more than just paintings. She makes jewellery, does painting and textile designing. PHOTO BY CALEB MUGUME.

What you need to know:

Blind painter. Ritah Kivumbi lost her sight in her adult life. While she coould no longer be employed, her passion for art only seemed to grow even if she can only feel and imagine her way around her artwork.

I got to know Ritah Kivumbi during a broadcast on a local TV station. I am moved by how Kivumbi paints a picture out of imagination. When I give her a call for an interview, she agrees to meet me at Namirembe Guest House in Mengo where her art gallery is located.

At Namirembe, watching her try to find her way around the art gallery using her hands, Kivumbi assures me that she is a far cry from the young woman who walked with gusto seven years ago.
There is more to this visually impaired woman. She is a calm, soft spoken jolly woman who smiles at the mere mention of her name. Kivumbi makes jewellery, does painting and textile designing.

Losing her sight

Ritah Kivumbi lost her sight as an adult. While she could no longer be employed, her passion for art has seemed to grow even if she can only feel and imagine her artwork. PHOTO BY COLLEB MUGUME.


The vibrant woman recalls going through school without experiencing any eye problem. “Around October 2008, I started having continuous severe headaches that got me dizzy all the time, the right side of my body got paralysed, my neck became stiff and my eyes popped out. I got scared,” she confesses.

Desperate for answers, Kivumbi began her relentless visit to various doctors. “I did all kinds of tests you can imagine, including various brain scans but all came out normal,” she recalls.
Although the doctors could not find anything wrong with her, her sight continued deteriorating.

“My sight started going away day by day till I could not see anymore. I prayed to God the best I knew and on November 13, 2008 while at work, I felt dizzy and opted to go home but I lost balance on my way there and fell down losing consciousness. I was taken to hospital and on gaining consciousness, I was only seeing something smoky and ever since then, I became the B1 type (I don’t see completely),” she confesses.

Kivumbi says this was the most trying moment of her life as she thought life had come to an end. To the contrary, she has gone on to live a full life.

Starting a family

Kivumbi posses with her three children. She credits her chance at living a full life to their father who married her despite the loss of her sight and has been supportive of her since.


She had met her husband to be Godfrey Kivumbi earlier. Seven months after losing her sight, he proposed to her and they got married. The couple, who had a child together, had two more babies.

“I dedicated my life to learning how to make jewellery, cooking and coaching my children at home although I have no idea what they look like. I last saw the first born when she was three years old,” she says.

Stepping out blind for the first time
After seven years of being cooped up in the house for fear of people’s judgment, Kivumbi got the courage to step out into the world in October 2014.

“When I gave birth to my babies, I got courage and said if I could breastfeed, it means I could still do something to supplement my husband’s income and also help the community since I still had the art talent,” she says.

The mother of three tried telling her bosses at the university that she could still work but they hesitated saying one cannot do visual art when they are blind.

The art
Kivumbi whirls art brushes on a canvas in excitement of the imagination of how the outcome is set to be.

Her gallery is filled with crafts, paintings, jewellery, sculptures among other amazing art pieces whose passion Kivumbi describes as a calling she had since childhood. “Even before school, I loved art. I would plant flowers in different colours, upon moving out, I started with jewellery, tie and dye which eventually gave birth to Magezi Art Exhibition,” she says.

While doing her work, she draws inspiration for her pieces from Bible stories, special days such as Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day among other things and holds exhibitions for her art pieces.
She started organising these art exhibitions in March 2015 and has so far held 10.

Curious about how she is able to identify her works, Kivumbi says she knows how it has to look like since she bears the picture in her mind.

“I can just touch the work and explain it, I am privileged all my children can help me interpret the work and explain it to customers too,” she says.

Grace Amazing Kirabo, her eldest daughter, says, “I accompany my mother to help her communicate with people easily. We have been to Parliament, the Ministry of Gender and other places in search of market for the art. She is able to tell that someone has despised her but I do not confirm this to her for fear of hurting her. She respects time, is a perfectionist and a funny person.”

Ismail Abdul, an art instructor at Magezi Art Gallery has known Kivumbi since 2015. “She is straight forward, innovative, persistent with passion for art. I admire her creativity.”

Kivumbi sells her pieces in exhibitions, restaurants and communities plus her gallery at Namirembe Guest House from Shs10, 000 to Shs1m depending on the material, value of the item and the message it highlights.

Kivumbi also believes in empowering other people with disabilities and has moved to different parts of the country for the cause.
“I have been to Nakaseke, Kasana Luweero, Makerere Kagugube and Namirembe training both the visually impaired and other people on how to do the art,” she says.

Challenges
Kivumbi says marketing her pieces is hard as people sometimes shout at her in her attempts of explaining her pieces to them.
“Some people do not take me seriously when they see me with a walking cane; they will regard me as a beggar. They bang doors upon approaching them or yell but I have learnt to ignore all this and move on,” she says.

Kivumbi lacks supporting technology to enhance communication since she dropped out of braille lessons because she could not afford transport and other materials such as braille note, braille sense and a laptop.

She is also challenged with mobility as she cannot use a taxi but only boda bodas which she says are very expensive and risky.
“I feel bad that my children are missing out on how a mother can take a child out, shop for them. Sometimes they fall sick or have wounds and I cannot tell. However, I thank their father for helping me greatly in their general grooming,” she says.

Interview
Describe yourself as a mother and an artist
Kivumbi the mother loves and treasures her children because they have stood with her in her condition. I’m blessed that all my children can guide me when I need help. Kivumbi the artist, is someone who is passionate about visual arts and she encourages young people to take it on.
What was your dream career?
I wanted to be a lawyer but my passion for art eroded away this dream.
Tell us about being marginalised and how you deal with it
I get a lot of insults but all these go to my daughter who holds my hand as we move around, it breaks my heart though. When one hurts me, I cry but hide my tears behind my shades. I do not want to make my daughter, Amazing Grace Kirabo, feel bad.
What life lesson have you drawn from your experiences?
There are many but being patient and knowing that as long as you have life, the sky is always the limit has been my biggest lesson.I have also learnt to love the disabled because I know what it means to be in their shoes.
What do your children look like to you?
The way they talk and their brilliancy captures my heart. When I feel their fingers and touch their faces, there is that sixth sense that tells me they are good looking.
What do you consider your biggest achievement so far?
I wrote a magazine ‘Seeing beyond her blindness’ for the ministry of Gender sharing my story and it earned me a medal on Women’s Day last year at Kololo Independence Grounds.
What do you treasure most in life?
I love and treasure my husband a lot for he stood by my side and proposed to me even after I became blind. I also love my children, especially Kirabo who has helped me raise her siblings and faced all kinds of humiliations at a tender age as she takes me around.
Your advice to disabled women
Wake up and do what you can. This way we will stop being perceived as beggars all the time. Exploit that simple talent in you.