Four Ugandan emerging artists have been recognised in the 2026 Tilga Art Prize Uganda Edition, with the winners receiving a combined US$11,000 in cash awards and a three-month fully funded residency opportunity. Trevor Aloka emerged as the overall winner, receiving a US$5,000 cash prize and a three-month, all-expenses-paid residency.
Martin David Mutebi took second place and received US$3,000, while Brogan Mwesigwa and Joshua Yiga Mulungi finished third and fourth, receiving US$2,000 and US$1,000 respectively. The winners were announced on September 20, 2026, by the Tilga Foundation, a Los Angeles-based organisation that identifies and supports emerging artists across Africa.
Aloka is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work explores time, memory, everyday experiences and social systems. He was a 2025 Absa L’Atelier Ambassador and has participated in exhibitions and residencies in Africa and internationally. Mutebi, a Kampala-based interdisciplinary artist, works across clay, ceramics, sculpture and installation. He is a PhD candidate at Makerere University, where his practice explores cultural memory, material culture and African knowledge systems.
Third-place winner Brogan Mwesigwa is a Jinja-born, Kampala-based painter and storyteller whose work focuses on memory, identity and contemporary African life. He was also a semifinalist in the 2023 Tilga Art Prize Uganda Edition. Mulungi, who finished fourth, is a Kampala-born artist whose work transforms traditional banana-fibre dolls known as “zadde” into contemporary paintings, installations and digital animations. The Tilga Foundation said the artists were selected for their artistic practice, originality and future potential.
Wole Bakare, founder of the Tilga Foundation, thanked all Ugandan artists who submitted their work, saying the quality and ambition of the entries demonstrated the depth of emerging artistic talent in Uganda. Bakare also acknowledged the independent judging panel, comprising internationally acclaimed Ugandan artist Leilah Babirye; Afriart Gallery founder and director Daudi Karungi; Margaret Nagawa, curator and Visiting Assistant Professor of Art and Visual Culture at Spelman College in the United States; and Stephen T. Kauma, collector, arts patron and Managing Director and Global Head of Human Resources at Afreximbank.
“Congratulations to Trevor, Mutebi, Brogan and Joshua. We are delighted to welcome them into the Tilga community and to support the continued development of their artistic careers,” Bakare said. The Tilga Art Prize supports emerging artists through financial assistance, mentorship, professional development, residency opportunities and platforms designed to connect artists with wider audiences and the international art community. According to the foundation, the prize has, over the past six years, supported 25 artists in Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
