Cover My Story

Martin Aijuka Depories

“I don't remember when I started art, but I found myself doing children's art in clay, drawing on the ground in dust, drawing in ruled books that were meant for other subjects and by fourteen years I considered myself to be a ‘real’ artist!”

Most visitors save for many years for two maybe three treks that will allow them a peek into the lives of the Mountain Gorillas who’s only remaining habitat lies in the Virunga massif, shared by Uganda, DRC and Rwanda, or in Uganda’s famous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Martin has merged two intense passions – wildlife and art, specifically the iconic mountain gorilla.

Born in 1981 to a master-basketand-mat weaver, his mother, and an artistic father, he found that society outside his home placed no value on his blossoming artistic skills. His schools discouraged it saying it was for the dull and lazy and, with the backing of his father and hobby-weaving mother, Martin doggedly pursued his art to bachelor level at Makerere University in Kampala.

‘I am surrounded by unlimited inspirations in nature,’ Martin says, ‘art refreshes my mind and I use it as my leisure activity. I eat, I pray, I think art!’ Indeed, Martin’s art shows just how deep his appreciation of the gentle gorilla is, he also showcases cultures, traditional dress, playing children and his natural surroundings, including soils, vegetation and weather, mostly in charcoal which is his preferred medium, but oil and acrylic, realism and abstract are all forms he experiments with.

It may not be easy to obtain materials at the time he needs them, but returning visitors bring art supplies that he is unable to obtain in-country. Many of those returnees have one, two or even three of Martin’s drawings, framed and hung with pride to remind them of lifetime experiences in the forests of East Africa.

Martin is one of the few rural creatives who makes a living now as a full-time artist, but he has no plans to let this luck stay only with him. He teaches and works with other young artists to encourage them to give back to their communities by documenting their lives in their own rural villages. He makes a point to visit villages that never receive any form of art exposure to encourage those with potential, he supports them with paper, crayons, pens and pencils, but also opens their eyes to the free mediums around them – clays and resins, natural dyes and other raw materials. Children are naturally curious and creative and often bubble over with new ideas that they creatively mould into art. His only sadness that his own village has still not adopted fresh outlooks on the value of artistic skills despite his own journey and ability to earn more than a living.

Martin’s art gives him his identity. He wears this with pride and as a badge of honour. He loves to sit quietly, the birds and the insects all around him, watching, thinking, creatively inspiring new art, new perspectives and new ideas in his own mind, that hopefully, one day will greet the world in new canvases for sale to those who wish to take home more than photographs.

Aijuka Martin Depories: gorillasart@gmail.com