Life is too short to buy prints, invest in unique original “one of a kind” pieces of artwork.
The Toso&Jura art space is located near the Old Umm al Quwain Wall and what will be the center of the future tourist district. We are just 350 meters from the gorgeous Vida Resort Hotel and the fabulous all new Al Khor Waterfront area.
The Managing Partner of Toso&Jura has visited over 140 countries in connection with his career in international business development and has been collecting art for more than two decades, much of it is on display with further exhibitions planned for 2026.
Most of the artwork in the collection is from sub-Saharan Africa, colourful original paintings, many that are abstract works and some that are more figurative.
Toso&Jura has been working closely with and promoting some of the most talented contemporary visual artists in Uganda, Malawi and Madagascar. We also have a number of original paintings and / or drawings from Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia, Rwanda and several other countries.
The first pieces acquired for this collection were bought in Tanzania in the tinga-tinga style that was referred to as “airport art”. It is claimed that Keith Haring developed his style from this type of art (whether this true or false, nobody may ever know) that was originally produced using enamel paints on hardboard.
The next pieces acquired were from Ghana and some of these artists later became relatively successful, notably Foster Sakyiamah and Robert Osei Anim, we wish we had more pieces from these artists.
Zimbabwe was the next country where several works were added to the collection, most notably a few pieces from Lovemore Kambudzi who has work hung in the National Gallery in Harare and continues to sell work at auction for considerably high prices.
One African country that really stood out from the many others was Uganda where a real “art scene” seemed to develop overnight in the early 2000s. Toso&Jura has been working closely with an artist in Kampala named Mr. Denis Mubiru and we have acquired a few dozen pieces from him with more coming. He has also been represented by a well-respected South African gallery for several years. We are connected with several other artists in Uganda as well.
Madagascar was the most recent surprise and a place where they have an incredible modern art market. We had great fortune meeting one of the best-known living painters in the country, Leon Fulgence, in his studio in Antsirabe where we purchased several of his works. Since then we have worked together and acquired some freshly created abstract pieces.
We cannot omit Malawi, one of our favorite countries despite being dreadfully poor. Toso&Jura easily has 30 different artworks from the best-known artists in both Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Toso&Jura has artwork from 20 different countries in Africa primarily purchased direct from the artists as well as some fabulous memories and long-time friends / contacts.
Though the majority of the artwork on display is from Africa, we have some stand-out art from Myanmar that was acquired in 2025. While in Yangon I met with famous movie director and visual artist Pan Gyi Soe Moe for tea in his home studio where we had a lenghthy chat about art in general, fascinating guy and quite energetic for 80 years old.
The winter weather in the UAE is near perfect from November to March but the summers can be unbearably hot and the Toso&Jura management will be found in their farm house in Italy while not out sourcing Italian made sculpture and handmade glass / ceramics from the 1960-70s.