Collin Sekajugo (Uganda 1980-)
Stella's Rod

bark cloth, polypropylene and acrylic on unstretched denim

Artwork date: 2024
Exchange Rates*: USD 6514.82 – 8686.42
EURO 5920.38 – 7893.84
GBP 4982.35 – 6643.13

225 x 75 cm unframed

Provenance:

Private collection, Nairobi.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Collin Sekajugo’s work analyses the layered and often conflicting nature of identity in contemporary Uganda by reflecting on both his own multicultural background and the broader social fabric of the country. His mixed-media works, often combine recycled or familiar materials like quilted food sacks, polypropylene, denim and bark cloth that speak to pressing national concerns of his home country such as poverty, migration, environmental degradation. These everyday materials double as both aesthetic devices and symbols of global consumer culture, placing local realities in dialogue with global systems.

Sekajugo frequently inserts his own silhouetted figure into his compositions, using it as a consistent point of reference to explore themes of hybridity, displacement, and belonging. In doing so, he engages with Uganda’s complex national image; a country simultaneously praised as “Gifted by Nature”[1] and criticised as politically unstable or chaotic. By positioning himself as a metaphor for this national duality, Sekajugo draws parallels between personal and collective identity. He refers to this approach as “#sekaidentism,”[2] a mode through which he interrogates what it means to navigate multiple cultural affiliations in an era of globalisation. In this way, his work becomes not only a meditation on Ugandan identity, but also a broader reflection on how identity is increasingly fragmented, fluid, and in tension with the desire for a larger, shared sense of belonging.

This interrogation of identity is not limited to his studio practice. The artist is also the founder of influential community arts initiatives in both Uganda and Rwanda, underscoring his belief in art’s capacity to foster dialogue and effect change. His participation in the 59^th Venice Biennale in 2022, where the Uganda Pavilion received a Special Mention, further cemented his position as both a cultural ambassador and a socially engaged artist operating across local and international platforms.

^{[1] Meer, Collin Sekajugo: 16 Mar — 16 Apr 2020 at the Sulger-Buel Lovell in London, United Kingdom. Online: [https://www.meer.com/en/61663-collin-sekajugo]}

^{[2] The Independent, Sekajugo’s This is Uganda- C’est l’ O Uganda project. Online: [https://www.independent.co.ug/sekajugos-this-is-uganda-cest-l-o-uganda-project/]}

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC.; Schulting Art Collection, Amsterdam; Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin and the Centre Culturel Francaise du Rwanda, Kigali.