Arts & Crafts: Uganda

5Ugandan crafts with an eco-twist

Buy traditional crafts made with sustainable materials and you’ll return home from Uganda with a meaningful memento that is also helping to empower local communities

1BARK CLOTH The Baganda people of southern Uganda produce bark fabric – which is on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list – by boiling the inner bark of a mutuba sapling and pounding it until it stretches like dough. After drying in the sunshine, it turns the colour of a lion’s mane and smells like cedar. It is typically worn like a toga at coronations, healing ceremonies and cultural gatherings.

2GORILLA WOOD CARVINGS Mountain gorillas are critically endangered creatures, and around half the world’s population – over 340 – are found in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP. The Rafiki Memorial Wildlife Conservation Initiative discourages indigenous communities from poaching these great apes by enabling them to earn an income from making and selling wooden gorilla masks and sculptures instead.

3BASKETS Ugandans often gift baskets to brides, who use them to store vegetables, keep food hot and decorate their home. Sustainable and durable, these are usually made from the fibres of bukedo (banana leaf stalks), which are dried in the sun and wrapped in raffia straw dyed with hibiscus flowers, indigo and turmeric. The thread is then handwoven into coils.

4KITENGE The people of Uganda have practised the Indonesian method of batik printing – drizzling wax on to cotton, then dyeing it – since the Dutch first introduced the technique in the 1800s. The process produces colourful, bold patterns on fabric, known as kitenge, which is then turned into sarongs, headscarves, baby slings and long dresses.

5KARAMOJONG HEADDRESSES Nomadic Karamojong men, from the northeastern region of Karamoja, are known for wearing elaborate headdresses during dances and initiation ceremonies. These used to be earned by killing a predator or enemy, and they symbolise status and bravery. Made from clay, they are typically lined with human hair and decorated with ostrich feathers.

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WHERE TO BUY…

Bark cloth

You can buy bark cloth in its natural caramel hue, or dyed the colour of creamy coffee, at Masaka’s open-air central market (note: the thicker the cloth, the better the quality). Connect with Bukomansimbi Organic Tree Farmers Association on Facebook to ask about workshops.

Gorilla carvings

Rafiki’s gallery (rafikiwildlife. org), at the entrance of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP, sells paintings and wooden sculptures of gorillas. Bwindi Local Woodcarvers Association also hosts mask-carving and painting workshops there that last up to four hours.

Baskets

In Kampala, buy baskets at the National Arts and Crafts Village or make your own at Uganda Crafts 2000 (ugandacrafts2000ltd.org). Its workshops last from four hours to three weeks – the price depends on the length and number of participants.

Kitenge

Shop for kitenge at the capital’s Kampala Fair on 50 Bukoto Street. To design your own, contact Yimba Fashions (yimbafashions.com), who employ and train vulnerable local youths and host tours to the fabric markets.

Karamojong headdresses

Theo Vos of Kara-Tunga Arts & Tours (kara-tunga.com) hosts three-hour workshops in clay-sculpting, headdressweaving and beekeeping in Karamoja on request. The meeting point is at Plot 8, Lomilo Road, Moroto.