Odur Ronald is a multi-disciplinary visual artist.
2025 Biennial Year Find out more
He mainly uses aluminium printing plates by exploring its possibilities, one technique at a time by not only painting on the aluminium sheets, but also dents, burns, layers, stitches and weaves the shiny metal thus achieving texture, color, shape and character.
Odur graduated in Interior Design at Kyambogo University, Uganda (2017). His work has been featured and shown in several group exhibitions such as The Kampala Art Biennale curated by Simon Njami (2018), The East African Biennale, Tanzania (2019), East Meets East, The New Gallery, CoCuDI Center, Jerusalem (2020),), KLA ART 21, 32 Degrees East/Ugandan Art Trust (2021), Where The Wild Things Are, Afriart Gallery (2021), Our Africa Our Future, African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, The 14th Kaunas Biennale, Lithuania (2023), The Republic of This and That, Solo Exhibition at Afropocene Capsule (2023), Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London(2024), The 60th Venice Biennale, Uganda Pavilion, Italy (2024), Beyond Sculpture, Afriart Gallery,Uganda,(2024) and will be part of the Dak’art Biennale 2024 in Dakar, Senegal.
He is the winner of the Mukumbya Musoke Art Prize 2020 and one of the recipients of the Prince Claus Seed Award 2020, UK. He has been part of an art residency by 32 Degrees East/Ugandan Art Trust at Centre Soleil d’Afrique Mali (2020), Silhouette Projects Art Residency at Afriart Gallery (2020), and The African Union Art Residency at Loman Art, Dakar, Senegal (2022), and at Gasworks, London, UK, (2024).
Liverpool Biennial 2025
'Muly'Ato Limu - All in One Boat', 2025
Odur Ronald uses aluminium printing plates and scrap metal to explore ideas of free movement, migration, access, belonging and identity. “Muly’Ato Limu” (translated from Luganda as “All in One Boat”) is Ronald’s most ambitious installation to date. The work is a commentary on the complexities of migration, blending historical and contemporary narratives to explore the multifaceted experiences of African people.
Using passports as both a symbol and a medium, it delves into the tension between free movement and the restrictions imposed by borders. For Ronald, these documents are more than just identification; they highlight how global mobility and personal autonomy are shaped by societal constraints, ultimately representing permission or denial of freedom to pursue one’s aspirations.
Read more
Odur Ronald uses aluminium printing plates and scrap metal to explore ideas of free movement, migration, access, belonging and identity. “Muly’Ato Limu” (translated from Luganda as “All in One Boat”) is Ronald’s most ambitious installation to date. The work is a commentary on the complexities of migration, blending historical and contemporary narratives to explore the multifaceted experiences of African people. Using passports as both a symbol and a medium, it delves into the tension between free movement and the restrictions imposed by borders. For Ronald, these documents are more than just identification; they highlight how global mobility and personal autonomy are shaped by societal constraints, ultimately representing permission or denial of freedom to pursue one’s aspirations. Beneath the hanging passports, hand-stitched aluminium chairs symbolise the process of obtaining a visa where one sits to wait for approval or denial. The jerrycans reference the dangerous and illegal methods people often use to cross seas to Europe, such as floating on jerrycans or using small, unsafe boats. The arrangement of the installation references the Brooks – a renowned ship which travelled the passage from Liverpool via the West Coast of Africa, carrying over 5000 enslaved people to plantations in the Caribbean during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The artist also includes a portrait of one of his sisters resting, a tender depiction of what life would be without domestic toil. This work is in dialogue with Alice Rekab’s ‘Isatu at Rest’ which depicts her grandmother in a rare moment of relaxation. Courtesy of the artist. Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial, with support from British Council, Mercedes Vilardell and The African Arts Trust. Showing at Bluecoat
'Muly'Ato Limu - All in One Boat', 2025
Showing at Bluecoat
Tuesday to Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm-
Odur Ronald, ‘Muly'Ato Limu - All in One Boat’ 2025. Liverpool Biennial 2025 at Bluecoat. Photography by Mark McNulty.
-
Odur Ronald, ‘Muly'Ato Limu - All in One Boat’ 2025. Liverpool Biennial 2025 at Bluecoat. Photography by Mark McNulty.
Liverpool Biennial 2025
'No Hurry', 2020
Odur Ronald uses aluminium printing plates to explore ideas of free movement, migration, access, belonging and identity. The material has always been important to Ronald, ever since he was child when he would collect scrap metal to sell for extra pocket money to buy toys.
His practice centres around repurposing and testing the possibilities of this aluminium metal, which he manipulates through hand-stitching, weaving, denting, burning and layering.
‘No Hurry’ was made during an art residency at Silhouette Projects in Kampala, Uganda, during which Ronald reimagined and recreated objects which he interacted with and which he felt were important to him in his daily life. The work is based on a memory the artist has of his friend turning
Odur Ronald uses aluminium printing plates to explore ideas of free movement, migration, access, belonging and identity. The material has always been important to Ronald, ever since he was child when he would collect scrap metal to sell for extra pocket money to buy toys. His practice centres around repurposing and testing the possibilities of this aluminium metal, which he manipulates through hand-stitching, weaving, denting, burning and layering. ‘No Hurry’ was made during an art residency at Silhouette Projects in Kampala, Uganda, during which Ronald reimagined and recreated objects which he interacted with and which he felt were important to him in his daily life. The work is based on a memory the artist has of his friend turning up to meet him at the airport in battered old trainers. The artist presents the work as a playful anecdote, claiming that his friends and, more generally, other Ugandans, would usually rather arrive late than sacrifice looking good. Courtesy of the artist and the Martin Kharumwa collection. Supported by SEVENSTORE. Showing at SEVENSTORE
'No Hurry', 2020
Showing at SEVENSTORE
Mon-Sat,10am-6pm; Sun,11am-5pm-
Odur Ronald, ‘No Hurry’, 2020. Liverpool Biennial 2025 at SEVENSTORE. Photography by Mark McNulty.
-
Odur Ronald, ‘No Hurry’, 2020. Liverpool Biennial 2025 at SEVENSTORE. Photography by Mark McNulty.
-
Odur Ronald, ‘No Hurry’, 2020. Liverpool Biennial 2025 at SEVENSTORE. Photography by Mark McNulty.
This edition
-
Odur Ronald, Muwawa (without care), 2021. Photography by Tamie Clicks -
Odur Ronald, Waagawulidde (have you heard it), 2024. Photography by Henry Robinson. -
Odur Ronald, Fena (all of us), 2024. Courtesy Darlyne Komukama. -
Odur Ronald, Waagawulidde (have you heard it), 2024. Photography by Henry Robinson.
