MAKANO

MAKANO is a Congolese visual artist based in Kampala, Uganda, whose multidisciplinary practice stands as a frantic, vital act of pure psychological survival. Forged by the crucible of the 2018 DRC civil war and his formative years in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, his work channels raw personal trauma and socio-political resistance into an unfiltered, globally recognized visual language.

Operating under the name MAKANO—meaning "intersection"—his creative energy refuses traditional constraints, sprawling past the canvas onto walls, wood, and found materials. His dense abstract compositions fuse rapid, stream-of-consciousness prose written in Swahili, French, and English with a recurring, manic, one-eyed alter-ego that grins through the chaos. In an intimate, literal sacrifice, MAKANO infuses his own physical blood into his red acrylic paint, embedding his DNA into the canvas to transform historical grief into a living monument of human resilience.

Since breaking out as the winner of the Faces Up Uganda Positive Memories contest in 2021, MAKANO’s trajectory has been rapid. He has mounted highly successful solo exhibitions, including I AM (2024, Amasaka Gallery), WHITE TEETH (2025, Umoja Gallery), and Red Flags (2026, Everyday Lusaka, Zambia). Following a prestigious 2024 institutional residency with blaxTARLINES KUMASI at KNUST in Ghana, his international presence culminated in his selection for the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), exhibiting within the curated group show "In Minor Keys" at the Arsenale.