Widely recognised as one of East Africa’s most respected and sought-after painters, Geoffrey Ernest Katantazi Mukasa was born into the family of one of Uganda’s most prominent and historic political figures, Sir Apollo Kaggwa (1864-1927), the Buganda Prime Minister from 1890 to 1926, and spent part of his childhood in the privileged environment of the palace of the Buganda Kingdom. Following the murder of his father, one of Uganda’s most prominent doctors, during Idi Amin's coup, the young Geoffrey left Uganda in exile, studying at College of Arts and Crafts at the University of Lucknow, India. His mentor during this time was the eccentric and renowned Indian master painter M.F. Husain (1915-2011), and he was also influenced by European modernists, in particular the cubists George Braque and Pablo Picasso.

Mukasa returned to Uganda with a deep appreciation of Indian and European aesthetics and with a style that was notably different from his peer group in East Africa. Along with his contemporaries Romano Lutwama, Fabian Mpagi and Eli Kyeyune, he became a key figure in the movement to revive cultural life in Kampala following the end of the Amin regime; this cultural movement was seen as a unifying force and an inspiration for the nation’s recovery from years of military dictatorship. Mukasa’s subjects are rooted in Ugandan social life and culture; sitting and standing figures dominate his tightly packed canvases, reminding us of the early 20th century African studio photography. The chickens that are frequently depicted are those that freely forage in backyards, but also play a major part in ancestral worship and other activities of cultural significance.