Art gave them a lifeline

The path to their future started with misfortune. Twins Kakuru Muhwezi and Edwin Kato lost their parents between 2000 and 2002. With no chief caretaker, they dropped out of school and set off from Bushenyi District on a hunt for their destiny, armed with but one thing- talent passed on by their late father Fred Matsiko, an artist in Bumbaire, Bushenyi District.

“We never had any one to take care of us. We decided to come to the city with only Shs150,000 from the condolences, to try out life, because many people left to do business in Kampala,” says Kato.

When they reached Kampala, they stationed in Kasubi and started working on someone’s verandah. They later rented a single room and worked hard to see that they established themselves.

Born in a family of artists, their talent came easy and guidance was available. Their auntie is a Fine Art teacher and some of their cousins are also artists. They thus started with paintings, making stamps and designing posters. After some time, Kato got a job as a pool table attendant but this was not lucrative because he earned very little. He decided to concentrate on their art work.

In 2007, Kakuru went to work in Iraq as a guard. When he returned, he connected his brother, Kato to go and work too. The little money they earned abroad enabled them get some of the requirements needed to boost their business.

They decided to relocate to Nakulabye where they are now based at the Twins Art point. At present, they paint portraits, do graph designing, hand cut stamps, wall branding, make business cards and other art related work.

“Our work is based on skills which we got from our late father. We aim at doing what our customers want. During school days, we help students who study Paper Six Fine Art. Also, we paint pictures of different personalities like Musicians and these go for Shs150,000 to Shs300, 000. In a month, we make between Shs 1.5m to Shs2m,” reveals Kato.

At their shop, one of them sits on the computer as the other is busy making different designs. Clients make queues to book and make orders for different artistic designs and work. Portraits of Obama, Nelson Mandela, the Queen of England and several others are dotted on walls.

Their work has made them quite popular. The duo is particularly proud of the exhibition they had during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Uganda and the works they have done for celebrities like Bebecool, Chameleon and Washington.

“People like our work because we do what is required of us. We avoid disappointing customers because they are our bosses,” says Kakuru. On a good day, they receive 8-10 customers.

However, their business is weighed down by the high cost of materials they use and theft of their equipment that occurred at one point. Their future plan is to establish an institution where they will have many orphans trained in order to combat poverty.

“We would like to start up a school where we shall be training helpless children to acquire skills in Art which will definitely see them succeed,” says Kakuru.

Currently they mentor some people how to make money through art. Their advice to the hopeless youth is that they should work hard to see that they fight poverty and that they should remain focused.