MishMash- bringing art to Acacia

Collin Sekajugo is a respected voice when it comes to arts in Uganda. As the founder of the Weaver Bird Foundation and Ivuka Arts, he is a renowned artist both in Uganda and internationally. No small wonder then, to find his name appearing in conjunction with a new venue that is opening up on Acacia Avenue, Kampala. This project, a mixture of gallery, café and cinema, is the long-awaited expansion of MishMash.

MishMash, the brainchild of Adam and Genevieve Williams, was first created in a garden in Naguru. The young couple had failed to find places to spend their Sundays in Kampala that matched their interests, so they decided that instead of complaining, they whould go ahead and do it themselves.

Taking a gamble, they converted half of their house into a white-walled gallery space and set about attracting artists and art enthusiasts to go and spend a leisurely afternoon in their garden. A bar was opened and food was served, but most importantly, there is a variety of art available to the public in a setting that encourages engagement and relaxation at the same time.

They could not have picked a better time, says Sekajugo.

“In my opinion Ugandan artists in the past two years have woken up,”he says. “I think the coming of MishMash created some kind of competition, exposing the art but also encouraging artists to become more creative.”

That was just under a year ago, and the idea has already outgrown its current home. In order to cope with the increasing demands of the events, held on the last Sunday of every month and leave the gallery open to the public for 10 days afterwards, the Williams’ have chosen a rambling house on Acacia Avenue as their new base. Describing their vision, Adam says, “We don’t want it to be a pretentious place, we want it to be very laid-back and easygoing.”

In keeping with those aims, the garden features a new tree-house that will be the envy of every child, a cinema screen and several seating areas, while inside there will be a permanent craft and gift shop alongside a large gallery space, a restaurant and a bar. As well as being open every day, it’s set to follow the old model of MishMash, with main events running one Sunday every month and offering a wide range of entertainment, as well as arts, crafts and refreshments. Sekajugo, who involved himself fully with the MishMash project since the very beginning, is very excited by the new space’s potential.

When asked about his view of the current state of the Kampala art scene, Sekajugo replies, “I think so many things are happening at the moment which is giving me hope, it had been stagnant for a long time”. He’s optimistic, too, about MishMash’s place in this ongoing renaissance.

“I think it’s going to be a very rare, good centre point for the merging of artists. The new space is going to grease the wheels for new competition- healthy competition if I can put it that way… They’ve done it in a way nobody did before, combining art, culture and fun. It’s an interactive kind of space, and you can speak to the artists while enjoying the atmosphere. It’s a place we’ve needed for many years.”
The Williams, however, are more understated about their aims.

“We are just a couple using our savings to do something which we think would be cool and fun, and trying to make somewhere that we’d actually like to hang out,” says Genevieve. And the events in Naguru started small, but as Adam explains, it soon got bigger than they had expected. “People would come to the gate on a Tuesday and say, “Is this MishMash? We would like to come in.” And we would have to say “Sorry, we are just once a month old, so we are not really open.”

The inaugural event at MishMash’s new home, Plot 28, Acacia Avenue, is today and it will feature work by the @rt Punch collective as well as a Christmas market offering a wide range of arts and crafts by some of the country’s most unique artisans. It’s a time of frantic preparations, but the Williams are taking it in their stride.
“There’s still a lot to do, but we’ll get there,” says Adam, before hurrying back to try to find the right material for a 15-metre outdoor cinema screen.