I could not speak about the subject of art for 15 minutes and make as much sense as Matt Kayem made in his book “Soul Art.”
Soul Art, the treatise on the interconnectedness between visual art and music, explored through the works of another Ugandan visual artist Daniel Atenyi, was a delightful read for more than the subject itself. It opens a wide door into the world of art, giving a broad view of that elusive term “art” that we know instinctively but may struggle to put into words if tasked to say what exactly it is.
I purchased this text to get a formal understanding of visual art, and the motivations to create it. It was also for me a means to train myself to love art deeply, beyond just casual admiration, and actually purchase it or pay for its experiences, as I have been able to do with books and poetry.
While the book was about the marriage of visual art and music, Matt’s confrontation of what I call “afari” art was both as hilarious as it was enlightening. You know, the tourist-targeting paintings of wildlife and landscapes that have unsconsciously become the dominant definition of art for a lot of people. I chuckled at the epiphaneous realisation that I, too, form part of that majority, whose view of art is largely dominated by paintings of wildlife and landscapes.
For its academic handling of the subject, for never having read any other book on the matter, and for its meeting large parts of my reasons for purchasing it, Soul Art is a good book.
