Atukunda
Charity Atukunda was born in Rukungiri, Uganda in 1988. After her family moved to the United States, she spent her formative years seeking out her place as an artist, drawing on visual fine arts, graphic novels and animations for inspiration. She returned to Uganda in 2008 and the cultural shift initiated a process of decolonization and self-deconstruction. The vulnerability of the process forces her to constantly search herself.
Atukunda’s work is an exploration and uncovering of history in order to contextualize her personal experiences as well as an attempt to escape from the exoticism of what ‘African’ or ‘black woman’ looks like. Atukunda’s style is marked by a conscious use of pattern, symbolism and mythical allusions. In the process of creating she enters a deep research process to avoid taking any ‘historical facts’ for granted. Her excavation of history and of her own artistic process trace a similar trajectory of deconstruction and self-education.
EDUCATION
2008 – 2011 | Bachelors in Industrial Fine Arts, Uganda Christian University in Mukono.
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
April 2019 & 2021 | Residency & KLA ART Labs : Uganda Arts Trust, Kampala Uganda
February 2020 | Artist in Residence, Centre Soleil d’Afrique - Bamako, Mali
2022 Winner - Uganda REVEAL Comics
EXHIBITIONS
July 2014 & August 2016 | Sadolin Mabarti Challenge, Goethe Zentrum Kampala- Kampala Uganda
September - October 2016 | Seven Hills: Kampala Art Biennale, Nommo Gallery - Kampala Uganda
September 2017 | Palate II, 32 Degrees East & Alliance Francaise Kampala - Kampala, Uganda
July 2019 | Politics of Return, London School of Economics - Gulu, Uganda
September 2020 | East Meets East , Cucodi Centre - Tel Aviv, Israel
November 2021 | The Transients, Kampala Arts Festival - Kampala, Uganda
May 2023 | Shape of Water, Afriart Gallery - Kampala, Uganda
WORKSHOPS
2019 | Facilitator: Belonging & Learning an intersection of arts methodologies and
education with young refugees, Manchester Metropolitan , Kampala Uganda
2020 | Facilitator : Questioning the Form: Zine making as a form of disruption , Manchester Metropolitan, Kampala, Uganda
2023 | Facilitator: Collage making and Queer Perspectives on Climate Change, Leeds University, Kampala Uganda
CONTACT
For commissions, requests for prints or more information on any of my projects:
Email: charityatukunda@gmail.com
IG: @charity.atukunda