About
Mona Okulla Ouba is a German-Ugandan poet, director, and video artist based between Kampala, Johannesburg and Berlin. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media Culture from Film University “Konrad Wolf” Babelsberg (2017) and has written, directed, and produced award-winning works that explore poetic narratives, spirituality, Afro-surrealism, indigenous knowledge systems, and diasporic identity. Her short film Indigo (2022) won the Special Prize at the International Short Film Festival Berlin and second place at the Monologues & Poetry International Film Fest in California.
In addition to filmmaking, she works as a video artist creating installations at the intersection of poetry, technology, and indigenous knowledges. In 2024, she was an artist-in-residence at 32° East, Kampala resulting in YAO (2024), a multi-channel video installation presented at KLA ART Festival. She recently showed her first solo exhibition, Untitled Origins, at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in Berlin in February 2026.
ARTISTIC CURRICULUM
SOLO SHOWS:
UNTITLED ORIGINS, SOLO EXHIBITION, BALLHAUS NAUNYNSTR BERLIN, GERMANY: FEBRUARY 4-8, 2026
YAO COMMUNITY SCREENING OTUKE, NORTHERN UGANDA: MARCH 15, 2025
PATTERN PRESENTS: MONA OKULLA OBUA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: SOLO EXHIBITION | STOKVEL GALLERY JULY 30, 2025
ARTIST RESIDENCIES:
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 32° EAST, KAMPALA, UGANDA: MAY 2024- AUGUST 2024
OBSIDIAN POETRY RETREAT: 3RD EDITION OF THE VIRTUAL RESIDENCY
15 - 19 DECEMBER 2025
NJABALA FOUNDATION ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2026, KAMPALA, UGANDA: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, JANUARY- AUGUST 2026
GROUP SHOWS:
THE LAND REMEMBERS: GROUP EXHIBITION, DADDY MAGAZINE, GLOGAUAIR, BERLIN, GERMANY: 27 MAY – 2 JUNE 2026
(SUPPOSEDLY LIKE) OIL AND WATER: GROUP EXHIBITION, GEWÖLBEKELLER, BERLIN, GERMANY: APRIL 17 -24, 2026
MAD WORLD 2026: GROUP EXHIBITION, SOMAD NEW YORK, USA: OPENING: APRIL 18 2026
IMIYENZI EXHIBITION: GROUP EXHIBITION | MILELE MUSEUM HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA: OPENING SEPTEMBER 20, 2025
THE TALKING WATER POT: VIDEO INSTALLATION | MUFOKA: ART MEETS PLANTS AT 32 DEGREES EAST, KAMPALA, UGANDA:
MARCH 27, 2025
LOVE, LOSS & REINVENTIONS: GROUP EXHIBITION| ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE, KAMPALA, UGANDA:
MAY 11- 17 2024
HOW TO EAT A ROLEX (2024): WORKSHOP & VIDEO INSTALLATION | CURATED BY JUAN PABLO GARCÍA SOSSA | RAVEN ROW, LONDON, UK
YAO (2024): IMMERSIVE VIDEO INSTALLATION | KLA ART FESTIVAL 2024, KAMPALA, UGANDA
FILMOGRAPHY:
PAMBA (2026)
short film (Director) Kampala | Premiere at “The Land Remembers Exhibiton, Daddy Magazine, hosted at Glogauair Berlin 2026
INDIGO (2022)
Award-winning short film (Director & Writer), funded by the IMPACT funding of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
OMUSOTA (2021)
Poetry Short film (Director & Writer) Kampala | Premiere at the International Poetry Film Festival Weimar 2022
HUNDEFREUND / DOGFRIEND (2021)
Short film (Producer)
World Premiere at BFI Flare, London 2022
Nominated for the German Short film Awards 2022
1st Place Winner At the international short film festival, Berlin 2022
THE MORNING AFTER LOVE (2019)
Short film (director and editor) |
Premiere At the Film festival “The Present Is Not Enough – Performing Queer Histories and Futures”, Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin 2019
AWARDS
MONOLOGUES & POETRY INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST CALIFORNIA 2023
2ND PLACE WINNER (INDIGO)
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL BERLIN 2023
SPECIAL PRICE, GERMAN COMPETITION (INDIGO)
INDIGO WAS AWARDED AS CULTURALLY VALUABLE BY THE FBW DEUTSCHE FILM- UND MEDIENBEWERTUNG IN 2024