This exquisite piece, one of the collector’s firm favorites, was acquired from Kampala’s Nommo Gallery. The figure’s dignified presence as she looks straight ahead commands our utmost attention, and the artist wraps her in a sweater that’s as enveloping as a tomb. But it is not death one thinks of when contemplating this picture; indeed, the piece is as sweet as life itself. Ssendagire is one of a trio of masterful printmakers born and bred in Uganda. Ssendagire — along with Robert Yiga — was trained at Makerere University by the great John Bosco Kanuge, whose works are also in the Roduza Collection. These days Ssendagire is mostly an art teacher as the leader of the Art and Design Department at the National Teachers’ College in Mubende. His award-winning work has been widely exhibited at home and abroad.
