About me?

My name is Koloto Siraji, a Ugandan contemporary artist and researcher whose work traverses film, installation and performance. My method explores the bagisu philosophies of the dance art. Embracing and initiating the bagisu theories of art into modern practices. It is my intention to revisit the old wisdom of dance. My creation lab inhabits a space between merging bagisu traditional teachings with urban approaches to spark out fragments of a contemporary identity

I work between the error of post-colonialism and decolonization. Investigating the body as a medium to give new narratives. I’m curious about how I can use the body in space to transfer information and dance the agony in humanity. My art is most grounded in the lives of my communities and my ancestry. I’m most interested in making people feel, think and question; in relation to environment, politics, and humanity. My work offers no easy answers but seeks to provoke questioning in the audience; triggering them to think and seek individual perception and responsibility in the action.

What I do?

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Performances

I'm a dancer and choreographer whose work is often fit to present in theater, open space and exhibition formats. Text, film, costumes and sound make a big component of my performances.

Dance Films

I create films that research humanity and speak to the world. Bringing the human imagination to visual reality. I work with lens, movement and object to create a single body of work...

Installation Art

I play with found objects, text, images and archival materials to create spaces that redefine the presence of visual art.....

Welcome to my world of research, tales, beliefs, thoughts and opinions.
All my works are influenced by how I feel and think about situations.

My Artistic Background?

I’m immensely trained in the bagisu traditional artistry. Since 2004, I have been working with traditional dance elders in my tribe “Bagisu” as a student, teacher and community choreographer for the traditional dance gatherings and rituals of movement. It is from this rich artistic background that I explore philosophies and theories that shape my contemporary identity.

Achievements!

Over time, I have gained international recognition through awards, and presentations. This includes winning the Prince Claus Fund award for cultural and artistic response to environmental change. My solo works have also been presented around the world crossing Uganda, Germany, Rwanda, Colombia, Tanzania, Malaysia, Kenya and Netherlands.

Artistic Legacy?

In 2010, I founded Ensibuko Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that extends free dance and arts to communities that would otherwise luck access to artistic expression. This has been my portal for cultural activism and social change. Through which I have also impacted thousands of young dance artists through free mentorship, workshops, outreaches, performances, events and residencies.

Dwelling in a background that is culturally, spiritually and economically damaged. I find my path through
creating incubation processes involving practicing my art on a living body.

I draw my interest to understand the relationship
between the Body, Space and Time.

Artistic Statement

My art involves Body movement, Film and construction of objects, sculptures, and installations that explore representations and activities of political, social and cultural powers.

My Artisitic Statement

My Portfolio

My work is a result of deep artistic research and is intimate to me. I produce my work as Performances, Dance films and Installation art. Take a walk through my previous works.

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