The name 'Kentaro' (which means warrior in Uganda) was bestowed upon Rose-Marie Rychner, the supervisor and initiator of this gallery for services rendered to stimulate and promote the arts in Uganda after the civil war. Rose-Marie is an accomplished painter and sculptress herself.
The gallery opened its doors in February 2000 and has created a lot of interest amongst local art lovers.
Unfortunatly the Gallery is no more open since 8.march 2003
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Rose-Marie Rychner, the initiator of Gallery Kentaro spent 15 years in Africa, where she devoted a great deal of time to the promotion of East African art and wrote a few publications on the subject.
Kentaro has put a lot of emphasis on a particular issue, which she calls "Art poaching", which can often be seen in Africa. It does not deal with the acquiring of batiks or so-called paintings which can be found almost everywhere (so-called 'airport art' ). What is meant here is the good and important works of art of academic and recognized artists, which fetch very high prices in the western world. They san be acquired at bargain prices because the artist finds himself sometimes in a difficult financial situation (because he has a large family to support, or because he is looking after the children of a family member who has passed away). Prices paid are often so low that the artist cannot even replace the materials used to make the artwork. This means in the long run the loss of important artworks. There's only one term to describe it : 'discrimination against African academic artists'.
Any suggestions on ways to support these efforts in other countries would be welcomed.Contemporary Art in Uganda - Publication
Rose-Marie Rychner, the author of this publication, has been supporting the Ugandan art scene since 1993. After organizing a first group exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya, (Four artists in the National Museums, 1994), she was appointed curator of the Ugandan exhibition at the "Africus Johannesburg Biennale" in 1995, South Africa, where Uganda presented works by 9 artists. During this major event it was recognized that more needed to be done to promote these talented artists.
The present publication was prepared on the basis of Rose-Marie’s experience in Uganda during the period 1993-1996. It was an attempt to give a positive image of the current visual art scene in fast moving Uganda and the challenge faced by local artists in their efforts to search for their own identity. "Contemporary Art in Uganda" is the first comprehensive written report on contemporary art in Uganda since the sixties. Rose-Marie was able to prepare this book because of her close collaboration with her Ugandan artist colleagues and international experts.The 'Uganda Artist Promotion Committee' is distributing this publication world-wide in order to become more autonomous. By ordering copies of the book you will be supporting Ugandan artists.
This magnificent book may be ordered by sending an E-mail for US $24,00 (incl. postage and packaging). Send E-mail to : info@kentaro-art.comPublication: 'Uganda: The Cultural Landscape'
Rose-Marie Rychner tells in this book as one of twelve authors about the renaissance of the Ugandan Art.
Editor: Prof. Dr. E. Breitinger / University of Bayreuth / Germany
