Acaye Kerunen, Banange, 2021, Mixed media, 270 x 170 cm (106 ¼ x 66 7/8 in.) © Acaye Kerunen Acaye Kerunen Photography by Ethel Aanyu Details:b. Kampala, UgandaConnect: (opens in a new window) @acayekerunenart Read More Acaye Kerunen’s radical repositioning of heritage artisanship into the league of fine art has established the artist, storyteller, writer, actress, and activist as a resonant voice in contemporary artmaking.Kerunen's art is rooted in continuous engagement with women's issues, from liberation and the dismantling of colonial and patriarchal structures to poverty, domestic violence, and women's struggle to embrace their artistic selfhood within these oppressive systems. She is recognized for her multidisciplinary practice across media and performance as well as advocacy. Her continuous engagement with women’s issues, from liberation and the dismantling of colonial and patriarchal structures to poverty and domestic violence, is embodied through her many artistic activities. In 2012, Vogue Italia featured Kerunen as a social activist to watch in Africa. Throughout her life she has performed in plays and musical theatre and is a poet and writer, published in multiple outlets both in her native Uganda and worldwide. She graduated from the Islamic University in Uganda, Mbale with a BSc in Mass Communication, and earned a Diploma in Information Systems Management from Aptech.The processes of unmaking and remaking are central to Kerunen’s practice. She has explained that African women’s artmaking has been confined to utilitarian practices, for example weaving to produce mats and baskets rather than weaving for the sake of artmaking. Kerunen collaborates with primary artisans, mostly women, to produce the woven, dyed, and hand crafted materials in her work. Her practice incorporates the many cultures of the Great Lakes region, of which Uganda is a part, in order to represent a deep involvement about the connection to making and being as a manifestation for change. Drawing on the natural environment, Kerunen’s work utilizes materials including raffia, banana fiber, stripped sorghum stems, reeds, and palm leaves. The titles of her works are in Alur, Swahili, or Luganda, representing her family background and the women artisans she employs, many of whom speak Luganda.Ayera (2021) is Alur for “the chosen;” Alur is a regional language spoken in parts of western Uganda and neighboring countries. This title references Ayera, a traditional stew made from cow offals which is historically served at weddings and funerals. This title is doubly significant, as it alludes both to the importance of the stew as tradition, as well as to the materials present in the work, which Kerunen chose specifically due to their high quality and because the work itself resembles intestines. Ayera was shown as part of Iwang Sawa (Alur for “in the eye of time”), Kerunen’s 2021 exhibition at Afriart Gallery, Kampala, for which she received a curatorial fellowship from Newcastle University, United Kingdom. Centered thematically around temporality, the show highlighted manifold vistas of time in Kerunen’s work. It takes time to grow the natural materials the artist works with, and further time for skilled craftspersons to meticulously weave the components of her installations. Crucially, the show makes reference to the idea that time spent producing art is wasted because the product is not functional; Kerunen’s body of work necessarily subverts this capitalist narrative, demonstrating the urgency of artmaking for women in Uganda and beyond.Acaye Kerunen represented Uganda at the 2022 Venice Biennale alongside Collin Sekajugo, resulting in the Ugandan pavilion receiving the biennale jury Special Mention award for best national participation together with France. This was Uganda’s inaugural participation in the Venice Biennale, for which Kerunen and Sekajugo collaborated on Radiance – They Dream in Time, which showcased their shared interest in deconstructing western tropes about Africa and the othering of African art. Read More Acaye Kerunen, Kakare, 2021, Mixed media, 370 x 860 x 50 cm (145 5/8 x 338 5/8 x 19 ¾ in.) © Acaye Kerunen Acaye Kerunen, Ayera, 2021, Mixed media, 210 x 155 x 28 cm (82 5/8 x 61 1/8 x 11 1/8 in.) © Acaye Kerunen Acaye Kerunen, Bamutenda!, 2021, Mixed media, 275 x 118 x 40 cm (108 ¼ x 46 ½ x 15 ¾ in.) © Acaye Kerunen Acaye Kerunen, Waani Ee!, 2021, Mixed Media, 55 x 41 x 33 cm (21 5/8 x 16 1/8 x 13 in.) © Acaye Kerunen Acaye Kerunen, Eeh eeh, 2021, Mixed media, 70 x 56 x 72 cm (27 ½ 22 1/8 x 28 3/8 in.) © Acaye Kerunen Journal View All Our Artists in Venice Exhibitions Our Artists in Venice 2024 Mar 26, 2024 Films Acaye Kerunen’s Interweaving Threads Oct 12, 2022 News Acaye Kerunen Joins Pace Gallery Sep 22, 2022 One-Artist Exhibitions Group Exhibitions Books and Catalogues Periodicals Close One-Artist Exhibitions Acaye Kerunen One Artist DatesBorn, Kampala, UgandaLives and works in Kampala, UgandaEducationIslamic University, Mbale, Uganda, BSCAptech, Information Systems Management, Diploma2023Acaye Kerunen: A NI EE (I AM HERE), Blum Gallery, Los Angeles, July 1–August 12, 2023.Acaye Kerunen: Sacred Rain, RAM Galleri, Oslo, Norway, April 13–May 15, 2023.2021Acaye. E. Pamela Kerunen: Iwang Sawa, Afriart Gallery, Kampala, Uganda, September 18–October 28, 2021. Group Exhibitions Acaye Kerunen Group exhibitions 2024Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, Barbican Center, London, February 13, 2024–May 26, 2024.2023The Many Faces of Self, Ars Belga, Brussels, April 19–May 19, 2023.2022Uganda National Pavilion: RADIANCE - THEY DREAM IN TIME, The Milk of Dreams, 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, April 23–November 27, 2022. Books and Catalogues Acaye Kerunen Books 2022Hansen, Manuela. The Milk of Dreams (Il Latte Dei Sogni). First ed. Venezia: La Biennale Di Venezia, 2022: 156, 157, illustrated.Radiance: They Dream in Time (exhibition catalogue). Edited by Shaheen Merali. Milan: Skira Editore, 2022. Periodicals Acaye Kerunen Periodicals 2024"Acaye Kerunen Weaves Her Way Back to the Venice Biennale." Ocula, 15 February 2024. https://ocula.com/advisory/perspectives/acaye-kerunen-at-barbican/Freeman, Laura. "Unravel review — every room in this show will amaze you." The Times, 12 February 2024. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unravel-review-every-room-in-this-show-will-amaze-you-p2f27b2sz.“Going up: textiles and art.” The I Paper, 13 February 2024.Kerunen, Acaye. "Acaye Kerunen Weaves Her Way Back to the Venice Biennale." Interview with Eva Fuchs. Ocula, 15 February 2024. https://ocula.com/advisory/perspectives/acaye-kerunen-at-barbican/.“The Material World Exhibition highlights politics of textiles.” Financial Times, 13 February 2024."Unravel review — every room in this show will amaze you." The Times, 12 February 2024. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unravel-review-every-room-in-this-show-will-amaze-you-p2f27b2sz2023"Acaye Kerunen: 'Iwang Sawa—In the Eye of Time'." The Courtald, 30 March 2023. https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/acaye-kerunen-iwang-sawa-in-the-eye-of-time/2022“Acaye Kerunen and Collin Sekajugo: Radiance – They Dream in Time, Uganda Pavilion” (exhibition review). Whitewall, 2022. https://whitewall.art/whitewaller/venice/acaye-kerunen-and-collin-sekajugo-radiance-they-dream-in-time-uganda-pavilionDozier, Ayanna. “10 Artists Who Gained Representation with Major Galleries in 2022.” Artsy, 15 December 2022. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-artists-gained-representation-major-galleries-2022Greenberger, Alex. “Acaye Kerunen Joins Pace Gallery After Showing at Venice Biennale’s Award-Winning Ugandan Pavillion.” ARTnews, 23 September 2022. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/acaye-kerunen-pace-blum-poe-galerie-kandlhofer-1234640236/Kemigisa, Jackline. “Ugandan Artists to ‘Dream in Time’ at this Year’s Venice Biennale.” (exhibition review). Okayafrica, 2022. https://www.okayafrica.com/venice-biennale-2022-africa/?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5Kerunen,Acaye. “Interview: Acaye Kerunen on Finding Beauty In Art, Being First To Venice Biennale & The Importance Of Taking Ugandan Art To The World” (exhibition review). Interview with Hadijjah Natasha Sebunya. The EA Scene, 7 March 2022. https://www.theeascene.com/interview-acaye-pamela-on-finding-beauty-in-art-being-first-to-biennale-the-importance-of-taking-ugandan-art-to-the-world/=Kerunen, Acaye. “Pamela Elizabeth Acaye Kerunen” (exhibition review). Interview with Matt Kayem. Africanah, 10 June 2021. https://africanah.org/pamela-elizabeth-acaye-kerunen/Robinson, Megan D. “Ugandan Artist Acaye Kerunen’s Storytelling of Heritage.” Art & Object, 17 October 2022. https://www.artandobject.com/news/ugandan-artist-acaye-kerunens-storytelling-heritageShaw, Anny and Kabir Jhala. “Major galleries sign Venice Biennale’s women artists—at last.” The Art Newspaper, 14 October 2022. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/14/major-galleries-sign-venice-biennales-women-artistsat-lastVancelette, Rachel. “Uganda participates for the first time as a national pavilion of the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale Di Venezia 2022.” 25A Magazine, 26 May 2022. https://issuu.com/25a_magazine/docs/june_25a_22_-_web/84“Venice Biennale: Uganda gets its first pavilion under the theme ‘Radiance – They Dream in Time,’ with artists Acaye Kerunen and Collin Sekajugo” (exhibition review). Onart, 1 March 2022. https://www.onart.media/en/news/venice-biennale-uganda-gets-its-first-pavilion-under-the-theme-radiance-they-dream-in-time-with-artists-acaye-kerunen-and-collin-sekajugo/