Mona Taha

Working primarily with charcoal on medium to large-scale paper, Mona Taha creates figurative drawings, often depicting herself in intimate yet mundane poses, frequently in the form of self-portraits.

Biography of Mona Taha

Mona Taha was born in 1988 in Uganda. She earned her degree in Development Economics from Makerere University and worked in logistics and the family business until she decided to pursue a full-time career as an artist in 2020. She is also a mother of two children.

While Mona Taha embarked on her career as an artist not long ago, she has already participated in various group exhibitions and showcased her art at international art fairs. Recent group shows include "Shapes of Water" at Afriart Gallery in Kampala (2023), "Eastern Voices: Contemporary Art from East Africa" at Addis Fine Art in London (2023), "Echo" at Jenkins Johnson Project in New York (2022), "Where the Wild Things are" at Afriart Gallery in Kampala (2022), and "Surfaces 2 - Gender Identity Rebellion" at Afriart Gallery in Kampala (2019).

Mona Taha's paintings have also been featured at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York (2021), Art X Lagos (2022), FNB Joburg (2022), Miami Beach (2022), and many other art fairs."

Mona Taha's Art Style

While her artworks, encompassing both drawings and paintings, maintain a figurative style, Mona Taha does not confine herself to a specific medium. Employing a diverse range, including charcoal, inks, gouache, collage, graphite, and more, her creations emanate a sensuous yet raw and authentically truthful essence. For Mona, the act of creating serves as a therapeutic process and an outlet, enabling her to convey autobiographical themes closely intertwined with her own life.

Her art delves into personal introspection and addresses the challenges she faces as a woman, a mother, a daughter, and someone with a Muslim background. Significant themes revolve around gender, femininity, self-discovery, self-awareness, and social identity. Through at times probing self-inquiry and unfiltered honesty, her work transforms into a reflection of her personal journey, illustrating the process of accepting and embracing her true self.