“Abatuuze”
An exhibition by J.C. Muyonjo
7.5.–17.5.2026
Opening / Avajaiset 6.5. 17:00–19:00

Myymälä2 proudly presents “Abatuuze”, the first solo exhibition in Finland by Ugandan artist J.C. Muyonjo. Abatuuze is a Luganda word that loosely translates as “inhabitants of the land” which is both a profound homecoming and a powerful reckoning. Muyonjo navigates life between continents, delving into the complex interplay where identity, memory, and belonging are held in tension. He reckons that to be an inhabitant elsewhere is to become, by necessity, a translator of culture, of perception, of the stories others carry about a place they have never stood a foot inside that land.

Each piece begins as an illustrated or digital painting, before being fused with original sound design and music to create audio-reactive visuals that breathe and respond in real-time. The colourful and alluring images by Muyonjo seem to be in constant mutation; they shift focus here and there. This deliberate approach speaks strongly to a world where audiences encounter art through screens and fragmented attention. Muyonjo builds work that demands to be experienced rather than simply seen. Sound ignites the visual, and the visual breathes life into sound.

“Abatuuze” amplifies the voices of Ugandan spoken word artists Kabera Angel, Ssebo Lule, Ebrahim Soul’O, Wake 256 and Gambian Kora player Yahya Sonko, and developed in partnership with AfricaNoFilter, “Abatuuze” interrogates aspiration and frustration, systems that serve and systems that fail, and the continent’s youngest global population carrying both the weight and wonder of Africa, a continent balancing modernity while preserving ancestral traditions, in this sense, “Abatuuze” is Muyonjo upbeat artistic testimony, It’s a celebration of hope and resolute confidence in the future of his homeland.

Artist Bio
J.C. Muyonjo is an interdisciplinary artist living at the meeting point of sound, image, and interactive experiences. His practice spans visual communication, sound design, digital illustration, and new media, building audio-visual worlds.
His work has taken the form of VR/AR experiences, audio-reactive visuals, soundscape compositions, and music, with different albums and EPs released between 2016 and 2025. He has also collaborated with various artists like Italian sound artist Serena Criss, with their piece “Metamorphosis” being selected for screening at the PAYSAGES | COMPOSÉS 2025 festival in France, and the audio-visual piece “my campus” created for Aalto University’s Open Day 2023 in collaboration with Hungarian sound designer Bálint János. His Abatuuze project, developed in partnership with AfricaNoFilter extends this practice into cultural and political territory, merging spoken word, the Kora, and immersive technology to challenge stereotypical narratives about the African continent.
Muyonjo is a recipient of the Folger Shakespeare Library Artistic Research Fellowship (Washington D.C., 2024), the Africalia Creativity is Life Residency Grant (2020), and the Finland scholarship from Aalto University’s Sound in New Media programme. His work has been exhibited internationally and in his home country, Uganda.

Exhibition partner
AfricaNoFilter: https://africanofilter.org

More info:
JC Muyonjo Portfolio: https://rebrand.ly/JCMuyonjo
Artworks: Behance profile
Instagram @muyonjo_visuals    @jcmuyonjo
LinkedIn

Promo Artwork: “Tunawakilisha” . Translation: “We represent”

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