Simon Peter Katumba
Simon Peter Katumba, born in 1989, is a Ugandan visual artist who primarily focuses on painting. Katumba was raised in a family with strong religious and traditional cultural values. This upbringing set the foundations for him as an artist. He began to gain artistic direction and subject focus while studying for his undergraduate degree in Commercial Industrial Art and Design at Nkumba University. Katumba explores subject matter such as culture, religion, social issues, economic development (in the Ugandan context), and how western influence has caused these to alter. The bold use of color is a key component in creating the concepts on which his work is based.
Katumba has participated in various art projects, both commercial and community-based. These include the Kampala Laba art festival, Contemporary Art Festival 2014, Kampala City Festival 2015, and 2016. Since 2012, Katumba has conducted several art workshops and projects for children, youth, and adults.
Katumba was an artist in residence at 32east arts trust in Uganda in 2016. He also participated in the International Art Lab at NIAAD, 2019.
Katumba had solo art exhibitions in 2017, and 2019. He was part of several group exhibitions including; The East Africa Connect Exhibition of 2016, Jama Fest East Africa (Nairobi, 2015), Jama fest East Africa (Dar El Salam, 2019), and Kampala Contemporary Exhibition, (Kassel, Germany, 2017).
As an artist, Katumba wishes to expand the range of themes he works with, by using mixed media to develop new works relating to social media, the digital era, and their effect on human-to-human relationships.
