Busuulwa has made an impression in community

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Busuulwa uses his passion for art to help others

Busuulwa has made an impression in the community. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE

By Edgar R. Batte

Posted Saturday, January 7 2012 at 00:00
In Summary

He started trying out a few designs in his Primary Seven vacation. After Senior Four, he put up a small workshop, recruited youth, school dropouts and street kids whom he trained as artists.

Male Busuulwa started by admiring signposts and then moved on to collecting different magazines. Reason being, he liked the colourful designs in which they were done. At the time he was a pupil at Buganda Road Primary School.

“In Primary Seven vacation, I started trying out a few designs and painting with the aim of becoming an artist. I bought art brushes, paint and masking tape and started teaching myself a few things here and there,” Busuulwa recollects.

Soon he made an impression not just on his contemporaries but a few individuals from his community who dared him make some art work like sign posts for their makeshift beauty salons and other small businesses. “This helped me because I used to get school pocket money from it,” he recounts.

It was not long before he had to go back to school which gave him an opportunity to study art as a subject. By Senior Four he had plans of establishing himself. He did not want to waste away his study vacation.

“In my Senior Four vacation I put up a small workshop at Najjanankumbi and named it Nifty Artworks. I recruited youth, school dropouts and street kids whom I trained as artists using the knowledge I had acquired in school,” he adds.

His work caught the eye of the Belgium Administration Development Co-operation who gave him a grant of Shs7 million and an opportunity to pursue a graphics and design course. He was excited.

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So away from simply drawing and painting he could do graphic design which now earns him his daily bread. “Today, I have done work for companies like DStv Uganda (Multichoice), Caltex, Nabugabo Sand Beach, Celtel Uganda and schools like Achievers` Junior Day and Boarding School, Lweza Bright Nursery and Day care,” he tells about his work.

Like any talent, his art is not without its challenges. “This is a capital intensive enterprise which works with giant computerised printers that an individual like me cannot afford at the moment. So I work in collaboration with bigger companies like Diblos International Limited, which deals in outdoor billboard advertising,” he says.

The other set back was an accident he was involved in back in 2007. It stalled all his projects and crippled him financially. But Busuulwa still dreams of improving his skills particularly in animation as well as owning a graphic design house one day.

rbatte@ug.nationmedia.com

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