He ignored a law course for art, it paid off
Ronex Ahimbisibwe showcases his work at his home. photos by Edgar R. Batte
What you need to know:
Wrong choice? After obtaining a degree in art, Ahimisibwe’s parents were not amused by his choice of course and they bluntly told him he had wasted their money
When Ronex Ahimbisibwe graduated from Makerere University in 2001, his parents were not happy and ready to celebrate with him for successfully completing his Bachelor’s degree.
They were not happy that he had studied art and in fact had intimated to him that he was wasting their money. What was he going to do with a degree in Art? Was he going to paint people’s buildings, they kept thinking out loud.
But Ahimbisibwe’s heart was into art. He did not see himself in court chambers arguing out cases, as his parents wanted him to be a lawyer. As he dealt with the arguments of his parents and what he felt he wanted to do for a career and passion, he became more convinced that there was no way he could abandon art.
When he graduated, he knew he was not welcome home. He decided to comfort himself with the fact that he was of age to start life on his own. He rented a small, one-roomed house in Kalerwe, a Kampala suburb, at Shs30,000.
He did not have a studio so he would go back to the School of Fine Art at Makerere to work and utilise the free space to further his artistry dream. Along the way, help came from a friend, Henry Mzili Mujunga, a fellow artist.
“He is my mentor. I always liked what he did. I wanted to be near him so he could critique what I was doing. So I would move on foot from his home in Bulange [a Kampala suburb] to school in Makerere,” the artist reminisces.
There, he would mould his sculpture using mostly recycled materials. He is a painter too. It took him three years to start earning some money off his art. Using his works, he was able to acquire his first phone, a Sony Ericsson. He exchanged a sculptor for the phone.
“At the time, I would not mind the value of my sculptor,” he recounts. He stayed at Mzili’s for two years. He did not want to overstep his boundaries because sculptors need more space and did not want to clutter his host’s compound. At the time, he had started mixing sculpture and print work.
He recounts: “When I was still at school, I carved a lot and my hands begun shaking, so I found a way of painting without using a brush. I use a roller on the canvas.
His efforts to try and market his works online were partly hindered by the very man he had paid to build him a website. The man disappeared with the money after failing to do the work he was paid for. He resorted to using social network.
“My idea was to give a glimpse at arts in Uganda. After trying for some time, I began directing my energies to setting up an art space.
This led to the birth of the short-lived Fas Fas art space in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb. He had invested much of his savings in the art space, hoping it would help expose more artists’ works. But the landlord cut his dream short after he terminated Ahimbisibwe’s tenure.
With the frustration in Bugolobi, he moved his gallery to Ntinda. He looked for another partner but soon his partner started talking him into turning the place into a restaurant. Ahimbisibwe wanted it to remain an art space. They disagreed and his partner opted out.
Frustrated, he started working from his home, which he is turning into an art space. There, he gets more work on display and people go visiting.
Ahimbisibwe also engaged in some projects, working with Mish Mash bar and restaurant, where he would averagely earn about $4,000 (about Shs11m) after every exhibition.
Since Mish Mash closed, he has established contact and begun a working relationship with Carmel bar and lounge, also along John Babiiha Avenue, formerly Acacia Avenue.
The artist has also exhibited in countries such as USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, Tanzania, Norway, Germany (through the German Cultural Society) Bulgaria, Spain, Egypt, among others.
Ahimbisibwe is not amused by the way artists are treated by owners and managers of some of the art spaces in town. He argues that artists are exploited as they are hardly given their due. Art defines his life but the 37-year-old also enjoys dancing and he is a die-hard football supporter. Manchester United is his favourite team.
He has not been lucky with love and says he is yet to think about starting a family.
The numbers
Shs70,000
The lowest price for some of Ahimbisibwe’s art pieces. Some go for as high as Shs2 million
Shs11m
Average amount Ahimbisibwe earns from a single art exhibition. An exhibition can go on for a month or more.
