In addition to their beauty, the arts and crafts of Uganda have religious, cultural and psychological significance –as well as practical use.
Batiks and paintings:
Kampala is home to a number of galleries and studios.
One internationally renowned artist Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi is represented by Africrafts. His work celebrates the African woman but also all aspects of daily life and is aptly described as “Art that touches the heart.”.
Muliika specialises in colourful batik work in vibrant colour.
Check out our catalogue for work by both artists.
Baskets:
Weaving has existed it seems forever and is highly developed craft in Uganda.
From making fences, granaries, reed work, thatching, traps for hunting and fishing. Field baskets are used for carrying food from the gardens and some for storage. Women with nimble fingers and great skill, patience and dedication and effort produce the most intricate baskets –used as pot lids, fruit baskets, food trays that are also very beautiful as decorations.
Bark cloth (Lubugo):
Bark cloth is made by stripping lengths of mbugo tree which are soaked in water and beaten with a mallet called nsamo. The product, a soft material is then painted. This unique cloth is still used for Royal and other cultural occasions in Uganda. The beautiful ochre is used to make superb decorated tablecloths, handbags, mats and picture frame borders, purses, bookmarks ..The list goes on and on.
Gourds:
This natural growing plant is the same family as the pumpkin with a much tougher and smoother skin once cleaned. Gourds are useful in daily lives in many parts of Africa and come in an amazing variety of sizes and shapes. Their beauty and versatile uses inspire artisans in earthenware to copy their shapes. Their uses are myriad ranging from: large gourds used for churning milk to make ghee among the cattle keeping tribes like the Iteso, as water vessels or local beer drinking containers to small ones used as rattles- musical instruments.
Calabashes (gourds cut in half) have various uses too, such as drinking vessels, scoops, storage.
The really large ones are used as musical instruments by the Acholi in Northern Uganda.
The gourds and calabashes are available plain or decorated by young artists combining traditional methods with modern schemes.
Music:
There as a many instruments as there are tribal groups the most t common one is the drum which is used by most tribes and each is distinct in appearance and sound.
Drums made out of wood with two hollow ends covered in hides or skin.
Drums used to be a means of communication or a call communal work the
Precursor to Nokias of today one could say..
Wood
From many types of wood found in the country Ugandans make utensils, wooden stools and carvings. Namulondo is the sacred stool used in Ganda coronation rites.
At Africrafts we are proud of this rich heritage. We deal directly with women’s self help groups, individuals gifted in their particular creative craft such as Mrs Wanda who makes the lovely stuffed animals and is educating her children, or families which have been in the business of wood carving or musical instrument making from generation to generation to generation. We make trade as fair as possible and seek out the actual makers of the products we sell.
