Research Interests: Contemporary African Catholic Visual Art, Spirituality and Identity in Art, Visual Communication & Pedagogy, intersections of Traditional and Modern Practices, and Mixed Media and Painting Practice.
Dr. Joan Nanfuka is a Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art at the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts (MTSIFA), College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University. She is both a practicing artist and scholar whose work explores contemporary African art and Catholic visual culture.
She earned her BA in Industrial and Fine Art from Makerere University (2015), MA in Art from Burren College of Art, Ireland (2017), and completed her PhD at Makerere University in 2023 with a dissertation titled Contemporary African Catholic Visual Art: A Practical Analysis of its Transitions and Manifestations.
Her artistic practice, expressed through painting and mixed media, engages themes of spirituality, identity, and cultural transitions. She has exhibited her work locally and internationally and previously lectured at Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design in Entebbe.