Theresa Musoke (Ugandan b. 1944)
Lives and works in Kampala
Theresa Musoke is a formally experimental semi-abstract painter who has been celebrated for her expressive portrayals of wildlife. Using a range of mediums and techniques to develop her imagery, Musoke allows the suggestive nature of dyed canvas to guide her painting into evocative forms of animals and landscapes. Over her career she has developed a distinctive visual language blending astute, sensitive draughtsmanship with painterly experimentation.
Musoke was the first female artist to obtain a degree from the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Arts at Makerere University in 1963. She went on to win the painting prize in 1965 and obtained a scholarship to study for a postgraduate diploma in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London in 1965. She later won a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation to continue her studies at the University of Pennsylvania. On her return to Kampala, Musoke taught at Makerere University before relocating to Nairobi in 1976.
Musoke has been a highly influential figure in Kenyan and Ugandan art, not only for her celebrated visual practice but also as a distinguished educator. She lived in Kenya for over twenty years, teaching at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. Throughout this time, Musoke exhibited frequently in local galleries such as Paa Ya Paa, Gallery Watatu and the African Heritage House. Her selected solo and group exhibitions include a solo show at the Uganda Museum, 1965; Sanaa: Contemporary Art from East Africa, Commonwealth Institute, London, 1984; Pioneer Women of the Arts, Nairobi Gallery, 2018; A Retrospective of Three Artists: Theresa Musoke, Tabatha wa Thuku, Yony Waite, Circle Art Gallery, 2022. Her work featured in the travelling group show Mwili akili Na Roho, at the Royal Academy, London and Haus Der Kunst, Munich.