Who is Tusiime Mathias?

WHO IS MATHIAS TUSIIME?

BACKGROUND.

Mathias Tusiime is a self - taught artist who paints with oil and acrylics on his own hand made paper, as well as on commercially produced paper and canvas. Born in 1975 Bushenyi district.

Tusiime’s day job is being a Grounds man at Makerere Art School in this creativity charged Environment. Tusiime’s keen and observant eye has earned him a place of respect in the art community and he has exhibited in Uganda, Kenya, Denmark and the USA. He converts waste that he cleans up like discarded paints, paper and sugar cane pulp into bright joyous artworks. His subjects are often children with large bright eyed stares.He can be compared to Jack Katarikawe a self taught Ugandan artist based in Nairobi, Kenya, whose artistic career started at the Makerere Art School when he too was not a student, but rather a driver.

Tusiime is a good example of careful time management, genuine environmental awareness and protection as well as careful of limited resources to make profound artistic statements.

Tusiime Mathias has always astonished viewers and art lovers alike and for the last two decades his art can be seen to echo what every Artists dreams of Tusiime’s art has been more like taming the dynamics of societies own narrative and practice but more specifically refining his childhood experiences. What else would you label some one who has seen and been viewed by tourists gazers, art fanatics, art buyers and the community’s expense of hungry art space visitors. In Tusiime’s community, the local name for talent is “Omwoga” a largely western Uganda word to refer to people with peculiar into what they express either artistically but more specifically craft persons.

Tusiime’s talent and involvement in art narrative can be traced back two decades ago in 1999.This is the time when ha came into contact with what one could call a sheer pleasure but also as a result of working or like some writers have put it, labouring at one of the oldest East African Schools – The Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts.

WHAT IS THE GREATEST STORY OF SUCCESS

• I am known beyond the Ugandan boarder. My work is appreciated by people of different classes and tastes.
• Being able to exhibit in prestigious places Makerere University Kampala Gallery, Denmark, Netherlands, USA etc
• Making my own hand made paper.  (canvas)
• I attended central Africa Art in Health forum organised University of Florida held in Kigali – Rwanda.

THE WORST MOMENT IN BEING AN ARTIST

When I lost two opportunities to travel to the USA for the purpose of exhibiting my work.

WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE ACHIEVED

Tusiime says he will definitely not say no because to him that will not be a genuine answer because at least he has partly received what he had dreamed of. This comes with some of the exhibition he has had, one of his Arts works graces the top cover of MinstreI literary magazine in the USA and he has also sold some of his pieces in the European and other Scandinavian countries and then back home. So partly he has achieved his dream but though his plans are bigger than that and he is not yet to his climax.

WHAT MAJOR CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AND HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO HANDLE MOST OF THEM.

Tusiime says he has always had challenges through out his art life.

One of the challenges is getting the materials that he uses when doing his Art works.

He has also faced the challenges the marketing his Art works because he has no skills in marketing and always getting the market is a big problem because ha does not know which population he is supposed to target when producing his pieces of works.

Another challenge Tusiime faces in this industry of ART is that some clients take his Art works and when time comes to pay do not pay and that ends up frustrating him very much.

DO YOU THINK BEING AN ARTIST WAS YOUR CAREER

Possibly if you asked Tusiime he says it was not his career at the beginning but now that he got his opportunity of doing art he feels at the moment it is his calling and he says when it comes to Art now he feels passionately attached to this profession.

WHAT FUTURE PROSPECTS DO YOU HAVE IN MIND

Tusiime has bigger plans to expand and begin to produce his own material of painting and paper of art so that possibly he can sell some and earn some income that can develop his career and Art production.

He says he would like to learn how to make his own colours and come up with Artistic colours that will help him develop as great Art painter in the painting industry. So he prays so much that he is in position of coming up with that in future.

He also plans to do Art as a full  time job instead of doing the cleaning job  he has and doing art at night so he plans to continue with art full time day and night.

Tusiime also says he wants to set up his own studio where clients can find him. At the same time he plans to increase the number of exhibitions both abroad and back home.

WHAT TYPE OF ART DO YOU DO?

The type of Art Tusiime is practicing is that he is basically a painter and a print maker because that was what he in person was exposed to and it has put him in that position because it was easy for him to access at least some waste materials that he was in position to practice with and it was also easier for him to consult the masters in order to be what he is now.

SOME OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS

My work has been highly acknowledged both locally and internationally. E.g. I was invited to conduct a workshop about my work in the University of Columbia USA, Mbali institute and merry land University, Florida University, New Orleans University.

My work was selected to Design the minstrel Literacy magazine, etc I was selected to attend east central Africa Art in Health. This to me marks one of the greatest achievement inspite of the fact that I was not able to go.

By making experiments (research) on waste materials I managed to come out, with my own technique of turning waste materials into unique paper (canvas) for painting and print making.

A founding member of Uganda Art Consortium project of Kisa Foundation USA e.t.c

Qns.

Who have been your sponsors?

Kisa Foundation USA has played a big role in marketing my work in the USA through Mr. Tom Herriman the Executive Direcctor.

Then some of the people also helping me with the art material is Mrs. Joyce R Gotlies.

And others have always provided me with professional and moral support are professor Philip Kwesiga, Dr. Rose Namubiru Kirumira , Mr. Kanuge, Mrs. A lawua.