THE NEW NORMAL
Group Art Exhibition

Social commentary of contemporary events has been a rich scope for visual artists through the ages. In most recent times, the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic brought humanity to rethinking of how to carry on with life amidst the public health challenges of the day.

What became known as the new normal was a courageous response to readjusting life and to cautiously moving on with daily life. The concept of the new normal became one of the manifestations of humanity’s ability to survive through undaunted courage. 

In this art exhibition, “The New Normal,” three contemporary African artists, David Kigozi and Michael Lutaaya from Uganda together with Nabay Abraha from Eritrea but living and working in Sudan, present their own visual narratives inspired by the new normal from their own vantage points of lessons from the Corona virus.

David Kigozi, in his paintings, addresses the virtue of humanness through helping others as depicted in his “Run for Help,” the creative move of domesticating tourism as depicted in his “Domestic Tourism,” prioritizing what to spend on in adopting to the new normal in his “Mentorship,” and exploring the possibility of remote work in his “Working from Home,” are some of his interpretations of the dynamics of the time. 

Then, Michael Lutaaya approaches his portraiture with dash and brio in brush strokes embodying religious fervour. He looked at adversity through the eyes of one invoking divine intervention to protection of humanity from the scourge of the pandemic. 

Subsequently, the Eritrean artist Nabay Abraha’s visual narratives drawn from people’s changed ways of life due to the Corona virus pandemic and the loneliness suffered by immigrants are creatively depicted in his autobiographical series “Stolen Thoughts.” He sums them up in the following words: “My paintings are about people isolated and lost deep inside.” He was able to deal with that isolation and lostness using collage and acrylics on canvas in a psychotherapeutic way. 
 
Jude Kateete

July, 2023.