Benon Lutaaya

Benon Lutaaya was born in Uganda in 1985. In 2011, he moved to Johannesburg for a six-month stay at the Bag Factory, which brought him his breakthrough. From then on, the artist, activist and art patron lived in South Africa until his death.

In his works, he implemented a mixed-media approach (combining paint, collage and found objects), which was initially due to a lack of accessible resources. Benon collected, among other things, found and recycled paper materials from the street to create collaged portraits that have been collected by South Africa's Absa Museum, Ellerman's Contemporary Art Collection, Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art and other institutions.

He has gained international recognition and awards over the years, including the Lovell Gallery competition, a grant from the Ithuba Arts Fund, an Arts & Culture Trust award for visual art, the Face of African Youth Foundation award in Germany and a residency at the Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art (Saffca).

In 2016, Benon founded the Johannesburg-based nonprofit arts organization The Project Space and donated more than $84,000 to the center's programming. The Project Space is a nonprofit cultural laboratory dedicated to promoting contemporary African art through programs such as the Young Female Residency Award, which aim to provide international opportunities for African artists, particularly women, who may be overlooked by galleries.

The artist donated generously to various children's charities and other social causes for many years.

In 2019, Benon Lutaaya died of cancer at the age of only 34.