Kanney Consulting

 Morris Munyanah (1984- ) grew up in the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. His parents had moved to Uganda due to the political crisis in Rwanda. His father passed away when he was only two years old, so he credits his mom and his extended family with raising him. He lost a sister and a brother to the violence in Rwanda. His oldest brother was killed when he was fighting as a member of the RPF. He has one remaining brother. Morris came back to Rwanda for the first time when he was around fifteen years old. He returned to visit his family and then went back to Uganda to finish his studies. He moved back to Rwanda permanently when he was around twenty-three years old.

The artist showed an affinity for art at a young age. He took courses in art in primary and secondary school, always receiving high marks. His mother and the aunt who raised him wanted him to focus on a course of studies they deemed more practical at university, so Morris studied management science. He has a bachelor’s degree in management science and a diploma in procurement and logistics management from Kyambogo University in Kampala.

While he was busy studying management science, the artist immersed himself in an artistic social circle. He had many friends who were students at the School of Fine Arts at Makerere University with whom he spent a great deal of time. They would loan him supplies and show him what they were learning. Morris exhibited his paintings at Nomo Gallery, the national gallery of Uganda, alongside these friends. These same friends are currently his housemates in Kigali and they continue to inspire him to make art and encourage him to try new media, such as computer graphics, billboards, and animation.

Munyanah works mostly in acrylic on canvas in a semi-realistic style. The women of Rwanda inspired one of his earlier paintings, Pottery at Heart (2008), shown at right. In Uganda where he grew up, women were not involved in certain work that was considered to be the realm of men, such as building and pottery. However, in Rwanda, Morris saw women working on construction sites side by side with the men. Pottery has also traditionally been a medium for men only, so Morris wanted to show a “different picture of what a woman could do.” The resulting work shows a beautiful and fierce Rwandan woman with pots dancing around her.

Gorilla (2009), shown above  left with artist, pays homage to the Rwanda tradition of “Kwitz Izina”, the yearly ritual of naming the new-born gorillas. This painting was done from a picture in a magazine, but the noble beauty of the gorilla has been captured as if Morris had been in the forest with the creature. The choice by the artist to place only the face of the animal to front and side against an abstract bluish-green background highlights the importance of these animals to the economic prosperity of the country’s tourism industry and also their nobility as a gentle but formidable king of the jungle.

Morris Munyanah brings his very intellectual, thoughtful eye on the world to images of East Africa and then translates them onto canvas.  With two exhibits in the United States in the month of September 2010, one realizes the intense interest in this young artist's work.  One can only imagine that gazing on one of Munyanah's artworks will be like an exotic voyage to the continent known as Africa.

Valerie Kanney Ficklin, M.A. Art Historian