IN A BLUE WORLD
Matt Kayem is a Ugandan contemporary visual artist and writer. Matt’s artwork explores issues of identity, race, African history, decolonization, black consciousness, religion, sexuality and pop culture.
Matt Kayem has been part of group exhibitions at the Laba Festival 2016, Kampala Biennale 2016 & 2018. He was an artist-in-residency at 32° East | Ugandan Arts Trust in 2018 and also a finalist at the Mukumbya-Musoke art prize the same year. Matt was selected for AtWork workshop hosted by Simon Njami in 2018. He has had four solo shows with the last one “Notes About The Times” at Modzi Arts, Lusaka, Zambia where he was in residency in 2020. He was part of the group shows “African Identities” at AKKA Project in Venice(2022) and “Shout Plenty” show at the African Artists Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria(2022). Matt’s work was part of “Africa Supernova”at the Kunsthal KAdE museum in Amersfoort, Netherlands(2023-2024). Matt was also part of “Silent Invasions: The Art of Material Hacking” at Amasaka gallery(2023-2024) a group exhibition which collaborated with the blaxTarlines collective from Ghana. Kayem was an artist-in-residency at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi(2024) with the blaxTarlines collective.
Matt Kayem applies his skills in painting, sculpture, installation, performance, graffiti and photography. He works and lives in Kampala. Kayem is also an art writer/critic whose work has been published in Start Journal, africanah.org, ContemporaryAnd, The Independent Magazine and psp-culture.com. He recently published a book, “Soul Art” which was born out the Vivid Synergies residency program from Afriart gallery.
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The 13th Kitchen@the Granary session offered an intimate, in-depth look into Matt’s latest body of work titled; In A Blue World — a metaphorical exploration of the tensions between Western imperialism and African identity.
In his work, Matt positions himself as a visual preacher of Pan-Africanism and decolonization. He embodies both witness and subject—unpacking how colonialism and global systems continue to suffocate the black body, even in contemporary contexts.
Matt uses three key fabrics in his material storytelling:
Blue denim, as a symbol of the enduring dominance of Western influence;
Bark-cloth, as a shield and symbol of deep-rooted African identity—both vulnerable and resilient;
Dutch-wax print (kitenge), representing a contested and fragile layer of African self-expression, tied to questions of authenticity and colonial entanglement.
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We had the opportunity together with friends and the Family of matt to delve into the materiality as well as the conceptual building blocks of Matt's work, that we couldnot exhaute extensively in one sitting but were still glad to have an insight into the artist's makings.