Henry Mzili Mujunga

Henry "Mzili" Mujunga (born 1971) is a Ugandan-born painter, printmaker, and writer. He has been exploring intuitive ways of reviving African art through an art movement called indigenous expressionism. He strongly advocates the importance of networking amongst contemporary African artists in order to share their culture and create an interesting dialogue with the art being produced globally. Quotes I think I wouldn’t encourage people to become full time artists. I never even encouraged my students to become full time artist because you don’t go to school and learn to become one. Being an artist is a calling, you are either called to be that out of a need inside you or you are driven by circumstances. But I encourage most of my students to be creative, always question and be productive. The only way we can show our worth is through what we say and do, in other words through action. The more you say and do good things, the more you are considered productive and the more you will be rewarded. BEING AN ARTIST IS A CALLING Identity in Kampala is quite interesting because right now we are picking on a global identity. We no longer have these clear cut boundaries among the sexes. When we were growing up, they could tell us, a man wears a trouser and cuts his hair short. Then for us we decided to grow our hair not because we were rebelling, but we wanted to express ourselves differently and then the trend picked on. And also, this is one of my theories, many of us where brought up by single mothers so we identify better with our feminine side. You see, these young men are all becoming softer, wearing tight pants and therefore men don’t feel the need to be macho anymore. And also the ladies because of the hustle of the city have become tougher to survive and it is working. BEING AN ARTIST IS A CALLING Alcohol is very good, he he, like I always tell people that substance use is not abuse. I drink alcohol and sometimes it makes me think more clearly and creatively. BEING AN ARTIST IS A CALLING Essentially I’m inspired by those around me, especially my friends. Some of the stories I’m creating about gender are coming from my experience of gender biases among my female friends. And I’ve seen people here in Uganda not understanding issues of gender and they end up drawing these lines, male and female, period. So all these guys who fall in between, who don’t identify as either, or, who want to cross over are disregarded. BEING AN ARTIST IS A CALLING External links Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Painters from Uganda Category:Printmakers Category:People from Kampala Category:Authors from Uganda