Ugandan Barkcloth in Fashion and Design

Ugandan Barkcloth in Fashion and Design

Ugandan barkcloth is an environmentally-friendly, renewable material which originates from the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda. Its cultural importance was recognized by UNESCO in 2005 when barkcloth was included in the List of the Intagible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Traditionally the material, which predates the introduction of cotton and weaving, was popular for clothing and royal ceremonies, including king’s coronations. It’s still an honored tradition for Baganda to use barkcloth for burial ceremonies.

The transformation of the tree bark to a fabric is labor intensive. The bark of the indigenous mutuba tree is carefully removed and then alternately soaked and beaten with a grooved wooden mallet. This process takes hours. The material is then placed in the sun to dry, which produces a natural terracotta color. The tree regenerates its bark enabling it to be harvested again months later.

Barkcloth has been slowly disappearing to modern conveniences and the lack of interest from new generations. Knowledge of barkcloth outside of the region has  usually been associated with crafts and novelties made for tourists.

Barkcloth has found a rising interest in the fashion and design world. The resurgence has been led by creative and innovative people focused in the eco fashion market. Eco fashion, also called sustainable fashion, is a part of the growing design philosophy and trend of sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of environmentalism and social responsibility.

Several fashion designers have featured barkcloth in their collections on runways from Kampala to Berlin to London to Vancouver. These include Santa Anzo, Bobby Kolade, José Hendo and Gala Limon.

Award winning designer José Hendo takes a fresh and sustainable approach to contemporary fashion design, challenging the obsolescent nature of fashion and throw away culture. Her collections have been seen in British Vogue and at Vancouver Fashion Week.

I chose to combine good design with eco sustainable fashion, using the three Rs:
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
José Hendo

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The demand for barkcloth provides skilled craftsmen with a source of income that helps their families and communities. This can be vital to impoverished villages in Uganda. It facilitates an economic system of trade, not aid.

Deforestation in Africa is a serious issue. It affects the environment, climate and wildlife. Planting mutuba trees is a great way to combat deforestation. The tree provides a natural habitat for the diverse wildlife in Uganda. It also doesn’t damage the health of the soil for future use, as is the case with other species of trees which have been planted in Uganda for various reasons.

Ugandan barkcloth. Paving the way for a beautifully better world.

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Resources

 

• Ugandan artist Fred Mutebi is a master woodcut printmaker. He leads community-based initiatives in Uganda involving the creation, awareness and use of barkcloth.
• The Ugandan Bark Cloth Project showcases people, places and organizations involved in the preservation and use of Ugandan barkcloth. It is curated by University of North Texas fabrics professor Lesli Robertson, who specializes in Ugandan cultural arts and barkcloth.
• University of North Texas hosted a barkcloth exhibition highlighting sustainable art.
• Venny Nakazibwe is a professor at the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. She has devoted her academic career to the study of barkcloth.
• José Hendo is a fashion designer based in the United Kingdom.
• Gala Limon is a fasion designer based in Mexico.
• Bobby Kolade is a fashion designer based in Germany.
• German-based BARK CLOTH^® is pioneer of bark fiber development and production. They provide material to a variety of designers, entrepreneurs and businesses while maintaining a sensitivity to the environment and a transparency to their supply chain.
• UNESCO includes Ugandan barkcloth in the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
• The Buganda Kingdom is a subnational kingdom in Uganda. Barkcloth originated from the kingdom and has profound historical and cultural significance.

Victor Ochen: Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Victor Ochen

Ugandan peace advocate Victor Ochen has been nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee. He has been a steadfast advocate of nonviolence. The American Friends Service Committee won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.

Victor Ochen founded the African Youth Initiative Network in 2005 to work in two critical areas: the medical rehabilitation of those who have suffered from the physical and psychological trauma of war and promoting youth leadership. The organization is committed to making peace and justice a reality for the victims and survivors of war.

The American Friends Service Committee wrote in its nomination letter about Victor Ochen:

“Victor Ochen has consistently shown both commitment and effectiveness in his efforts to address the needs of victims. He has worked for transitional justice, while simultaneously promoting human rights through nonviolent means, nourishing the leadership skills of other young people, and challenging systemic issues that lead to the continued vulnerability and suffering of war victims.”

The northern region of Uganda suffered for two decades from a horrific conflict that traumatized innocent civilians.  The displacement of people from their villages caused social degradation that threatened the survival of the population. Peace has returned to the area and people are rebuilding their lives.

In May 2014, the African Youth Initiative Network organized the first national war victims conference in Kampala, Uganda. The goal was to develop a road map for a successful transitional justice process to address the wounds of war to achieve national reconciliation. Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, addressed the conference.

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Nobel Peace Price Laureates

 

How I Met Maurice Kirya

While traveling to Uganda in 2007, I met a young unknown musician. He went on to become an award-winning international musician and actor. This is the story about how I met Maurice Kirya.

One of the things that I enjoy doing when I travel to Uganda is visiting with friends and people that I know. There were Ugandans who I had met in Dallas that moved back to Uganda. When I would go to Uganda, I’d make sure that I’d visit them. One of these friends from Dallas, I had made arrangements to meet at Garden City Mall in Kampala. Café Pap. It’s a coffee shop that’s a common meeting place. With my friend was a friend of theirs. His name was Maurice. I had never met Maurice before. I didn’t know anything about him. This young man carried his guitar with him everywhere. We spent about an hour together talking and catching up.

After our friendly meeting, I needed to go to the restroom for a short call. While I was in the restroom, I was approached by two Ugandan men who started questioning me.

So you know Kirya. How do you know Kirya? Who are you? Are you an American? Are you a music producer? Do you promote international music?

It was an awkward situation because I was doing my business. It was just the three of us alone in the restroom and these two men were blocking the door. I was starting to get nervous about the whole situation. I didn’t know who they were talking about. The young man who I had met with the guitar I simply knew as Maurice. This young man was Maurice Kirya. He was a rising musician.

Through social media, when I came back to the United States I was able to keep in contact with my Ugandan friends like Maurice. His music inspired me so much. He had so much talent. I don’t describe him as an entertainer. He is a musician. He plays multiple instruments. He sings. He’s a songwriter. He knows music. It is in his blood.

Out of the sheer necessity and inspiration that he gave me, I decided to help promote his music, especially in the United States. He came to the United States in 2010 and did some festivals and performances. We did a mini-tour through New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC so people could hear his music. Soon after that happened in the United States, he was awarded by Radio France International the annual Discovery Prize for Best New African Artist. He won the award over 500 musicians from Africa in 2010. That gave me interest in learning about music and creative talent from Uganda.

It was an accidental experience. It’s been very fulfilling. It brings me great pleasure to expose people, especially in the United States, to music from my friends. These are people who I’ve built relationships with and people that I personally know. It’s wonderful to get people to hear their talent.

Under The Mango Tree

June 7, 2007 was a memorable day in my life. I had traveled to Gulu, Uganda with an Acholi friend who was returning to visit her family after being away for many years. She arranged a meeting for us with Paramount  Chief (Rwot) David Achana II. His role as the Paramount Chief of  Acholiland  laid upon his  shoulders the task of ensuring peace  in the northern part of Uganda. The region suffered from a brutal  conflict for over 20 years where over 1.6 million people were in  Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and tens of thousands had lost their lives.

We waited patiently under the mango tree with representatives of the Paramount Chief until he was ready to see us. Our meeting took place outside. I had the opportunity to speak with him about the serious challenges facing his people. Most of the conversations that took place with those gathered were in the Acholi language. That left me trying to interpret body language to understand what was being discussed.

When the meeting adjourned, I learned that we were given special  permission from the Paramount Chief to visit his royal village of Lacekocot. Lacekocot was also the home of my Acholi friend. She had not  been to her village in over 20 years. She had been sent abroad by her family as a young girl when the conflict in Uganda became deadly. Lacekocot had been turned into an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)  camp.

I had lots of time to view the beautiful landscape during our long  drive to the royal village. It is lush and green with rolling hills. The vast plains are dotted with trees and shrubbery.

We were warmly welcomed by the village elders when we arrived. A  special ceremony was held for my friend who was returning to her village. The ceremony involved her walking past the elders and crushing a  chicken egg with her bare feet. This was to symbolize her rebirth back  into the village.  We were the guests of honor and sat under a large mango tree for shade. The good furniture was brought out for us to sit with the elders. Many of the other villagers sat in front of us on large woven mats.

During our gathering, it was decided that we would take a tour of the of the area. This would include the sacred graves of former Acholi chiefs over hundreds of years. The area was in very poor condition. A devastating fire had recently destroyed a large area of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. The fires spread quickly due to the close proximity of the grass roofed huts to each other. Trees and grasses were  scorched and blackened from the fires. As we approached the  gravesites, I noticed something unusual. The towering  trees on the sacred ground  were lush and green. They had been untouched by the flames and heat that destroyed the surrounding trees and landscape. It was as if the flames had been ordered by the spirits of the ancestors to leave the graves untouched.

It was an honor to have been taken to such a sacred site of the Acholi people. We returned to our meeting place under the mango tree and  continued our visit. During this time, the elders of the village decided to give me an Acholi name. I was named Otim. The name identifies me as an Acholi who was born outside of Acholiland. I had been adopted into their culture.

We began our long journey back to the city before sunset. It was a  surreal drive for me. I found myself reviewing the events of the day. I met the Paramount Chief. I witnessed the return of a friend to her village. I had been in the presence of ancestors. I was adopted by the elders. The experience inspired me to want to learn more about the community who welcomed me. I wanted to learn more about their culture and their history.

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I’m Called Mulalu

When I’m in Uganda, I prefer to use public transportation. That usually involves a motorcycle taxi called a boda boda or a mini-van that can squeeze in about 15 passengers called a matatu.

A matatu is a “share taxi” that picks up passengers along its route. It’s operated by the driver and a conductor. The conductor scouts the route for potential passengers and collects the appropriate fares. Passengers get on and off anywhere along the route.

To maximize profit, a matatu is best operated when it’s full of passengers. Available seats usually mean that the matatu will wait at a stop until people board for their destination.

The sights and smells of riding in a matatu are uniquely African. The experience immerses me in local life. Many tourists or visitors to African countries will hire a driver to chauffer them places in a private vehicle. This is costly compared to a boda boda or matatu.

One day I was in downtown Kampala and needed to return to my neighborhood in the outskirts of the city. I needed to find a matatu that was headed to where I wanted to go. Parked matatus lined the city street while the conductors chanted the neighborhood destinations. “Wandegeya! Bukoto! Ntinda! Wandegeya! Bukoto! Ntinda!”. I boarded the empty matatu destined for my neighborhood and waited for it to fill up with passengers. I waited and waited. After about 10 minutes I became annoyed with the conductor’s lack of effort to fill the matatu. He was on the sidewalk casually talking with people. Suddenly the impatient American in me surfaced. If the conductor wasn’t going to do his job, then I would.

I got out of the matatu and became the unofficial conductor. I perched myself on the matatu above the crowd and began to chant “Wandegeya! Bukoto! Ntinda! Wandegeya! Bukoto! Ntinda!”. A shocked crowd turned their attention to me. People began to point and laugh at the muzungu (white person). Passengers began to fill the matatu. I continued chanting the destinations. I could hear a certain word being repeated by the crowd as they stared at me. “Mulalu. Mulalu. Mulalu”.

The matatu quickly filled and I was finally on my way. I kept hearing that word again during the drive. “Mulalu. Mulalu. Mulalu”. I reached my destination and paid the conductor the fare. He laughed at me and waved it off. Apparently I earned my fare this time.

I was curious about the word that I repeatedly kept hearing, so I asked my Ugandan friend for the meaning of “mulalu”. A confused look came over him. He asked me why I wanted to know. I explained the matatu experience. I told him that people seemed to be using the word in reference to me. He shook his head and smiled at me. “Michael”, he said. “Mulalu is a word used to describe an insanely crazy madman. Someone who is mentally ill.”

From that day on, my name in Uganda has been Mulalu.

The Story of Uganda Sings

I shared my story on the Atlanta Broadcasting Network program “The Voice” about the serendipitous series of events that led me to meeting Ugandan superstar Maurice Kirya and the musical collaboration with several other Ugandan musicians to release Uganda Sings.

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Treat yourself to a “superb safari of sound”. The music is available on these websites:

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The Price of a Pencil

Jackson Kaguri is the founder of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project. The organization helps orphans in rural Uganda to end systemic deprivation, poverty and hunger through a holistic approach to community development, education, and healthcare.

He is also the author of “A School For My Village“.  The book weaves together tales from his youth with the inspiring account of starting the school and changing the lives of many children. He proves that one person can really make a difference in the world.

Jackson shares his experiences with audiences around the world. His presentations recount the people and events in his life that led him from a small village in Uganda to receiving accolades from presidents and leaders for turning tragedy into hope.

He tells the story of a pencil in a TEDx presentation in Traverse City, Michigan USA. The inspiring story is about a man in rural Uganda who ensured that his five children received an education by breaking a pencil into five pieces.

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We could go in and hand them money and drop food from helicopters like international aid does. We don’t do that. We’ve gone in their homes and sit down with them asked them, what can we do to support you. .

Fred Mutebi

Click for website

Ugandan artist Fred Mutebi uses a vibrant array of colors to create beautiful woodcut prints that depict stories about Africa or that portray images indigenous to the African environment.

He is a master of the “multi-color progressive reduction method” of woodcut printmaking.  The image is meticulously carved onto a wood plate, rolled with colored ink, and then registered onto a surface.  The process is repeated five to six times on the same wood plate with different colors to complete the final image. At each stage, the colors transition from lightest to darkest. This particular technique of woodcut printmaking destroys the wood plate in the process. Carefully carved images and patterns are eventually removed in later stages to acquire the desired final print. The plate can never be used again.

As an artist and teacher, he believes that it is paramount that art should be used to inform people about global challenges. He strongly feels that it is extremely important to reach as many people as possible with art that relates with their issues, especially the youth of Uganda.

Mutebi is very active in rural development in Uganda. Proceeds from the sales of his artwork are used to fund several community based initiatives.

Video credit: Zara Sarzin

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Fred Mutebi has been featured in the global media. Click the link below for the list of references.

Fred Mutebi in the Media

The Story of Namasembe

Stephanie and I with Namasembe

Stephanie and I traveled to Uganda for the first time in 1998. We were invited by a Ugandan gentleman who had launched a grassroots organization to help the orphans and rural peasants devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He was helping people in his own community located in the Rakai District.

We were introduced to the children in the village who were attending the school that our Ugandan friend had started. This is when we met Namasembe.

During our next visit to Uganda in 2000, we were presented with the opportunity to bring Namasembe back to the United States to raise her as our daughter. After serious consideration, we decided that this was something that we wanted to pursue. We did not have any children and had struggled with fertility issues starting our family.

We collaborated with the village leaders and the appropriate American representatives to facilitate bringing Namasembe to our home. We had an American agency prepare a social report about us. Friends in Uganda helped Namasembe acquire the necessary documentation, including her birth certificate, passport, and health examination.

Stephanie returned to Uganda in 2001 to finalize the process. The legal requirements in Uganda were slow and frustrating. What we thought would take two weeks, took two months. We were finally granted guardianship by the High Court of Uganda. Unfortunately the American Embassy would not grant us the necessary visa for Namasembe to enter the United States. Stephanie returned alone. She was heartbroken.

Stephanie and I continued to support Namasembe over the years. We visited her during additional visits to Uganda. We receive letters and pictures from her that keep us updated. We have a room in our home that we still call “Namasembe’s room.”

While we were disappointed that one child from Uganda could not be a part of our family, we have been blessed with many more relationships in Uganda.

We are a part of a big family.

Okello Collins Monday

I met Okello Collins Monday in December 2007 during one of my visits to Uganda. He was being hosted by Ugandan artist Fred Mutebi for several days of art workshops. The art workshops were being provided to selected students from Hope North. These students had the opportunity to be taught and mentored by accomplished artists Stephen Mwanje, Taga Nuwagaba, Veroniccah Muwonge and Fred Mutebi.

Various art methods were taught in the workshops such as linocut printing, painting, drawing, and tie-dyeing.

I attended the art workshops and had the privilege to spend time with the students. During my time with the students, I got to hear their personal stories. Some of their experiences were expressed through the artwork that was created. Okello Collins Monday told me his story. He shared an experience with me that was also memorialized in his artwork.

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time when I was staying in a village called Olwal, I was abducted by the rebels when we were sleeping. It was at night when the rebels came and found four of us sleeping in the same room. Due to my bad luck, the boys ran away and I was left alone in the room. One rebel entered the room where I was sleeping and I was captured. We were three that were abducted and out of those I was the youngest. One person was killed because he tried to run away and then there were just us two. I was given a heavy load and the other man was being tortured seriously. On the second day we moved for about 20 miles. My leg was swollen and they decided to kill me because I was unable to walk. Due to my good luck the commander ordered one abducted man to carry me on his back because I was very young. On the third day we came to a village called Natiko and we stayed there for three days without moving anymore. My leg was treated and I got cured. We were being sent to go and get food stuffs from the nearby camp. On the seventh day, which was my last day in the bush, we moved from Natiko to a certain village called Laroo, which is near the town and I decided to escape.

I interviewed Okello Collins Monday during my visit. I wanted to learn more about this incredibly resilient young man. I wanted to know about his family. I wanted to know more about his community.  I wanted to know about his hopes and dreams.

Five years after I interviewed Okello Collins Monday, Academy Award winning actor and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Forest Whitaker interviewed him. Forest is the founder of Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative. The organization helps societies affected by conflict and violence transform into safe and productive communities.

Okello Collins Monday is now facilitating the art program at Hope North that was started by the Lalela Project. The arts curriculum will give students a structured program purposefully designed to address the trauma and conflict that they have experienced.  The vision is to spark creative thinking and awaken the entrepreneurial spirit to inspire a peaceful future..

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