Last Three Moves - art to make you uncomfortable

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In Samora O. Sanga’s world, it is a very bad thing to be complacent. Being complacent is what makes people weak and lose their identity, so he tries his level best to make them uncomfortable, and maybe face truths they’d rather not see, and think; or talk about subjects otherwise taken to be taboo. And he does that through art.

“It is important to make people uncomfortable, to shake them out of complacency,” Samora, 27, said on Saturday at the launch of his one-man exhibition, ‘Last Three Moves’, at the Kardamom & Koffee restaurant, in Kololo. “The work of an artist is to change a person’s perspective about things, or have a deeper thought about something they didn't think about before. How are they going to do that if they’re comfortable?”

Samora’s debut exhibition is made up of 9 pieces, 6 of which are oil on canvas paintings. The others include ‘Phobia’, a motorcycle helmet within a glass box, where the artist explores feelings of bigotry and corruption in society; and ‘End Game’ which features a pair of eyes painted on a skateboard, which the artist says belonged to a friend, but which he accidently broke. It represents ‘masculine frugality and the emotional aspect of being a man in African society’.

Many of the guests at the launch gravitated to two pieces, ‘Sacrifice’ (which depicts a hand throwing up 3 sh500 coins), and ‘En Passant’ (a pair of open handcuffs). The description of the latter has it that the open handcuffs represent a freedom he may never see as an African man, and states how he has been arrested in several African countries. Interestingly, Samora’s father, Prof. Joe Oloka Onyango, said he had no idea that his son had ever been arrested. Did it make him uncomfortable? Unfortunately, we don’t know.

‘Bad Mannas’ depicts a pair of hands holding a fork and knife, but in the wrong hands as etiquette demands. The artist says he has never been comfortable with holding the fork in his left hand, and he questions the place of Western dining etiquette in African culture. The piece, life ‘Sacrifice’, can be turned upside down to get another perspective (and because of that, none of the pieces are signed).

Samora is one of a growing number of young artists who are challenging contemporary art as we know it. To them, art is and should be more than just entertainment. If people can be made uncomfortable to question the status quo, they would have done their part.

Incidentally, Samora chose the venue for the exhibition because he was turned down by several art galleries in the city.

‘Three Last Moves’ will run at the Kardamom & Koffee restaurant in Kololo till March 21^st, 2025.