I was given the most unique and privileged opportunity when selected to spend three weeks in Nov 2011 to create new art works at the Ruwenzori Foundation’s Centre in Uganda. I was able to immerse myself in the quiet and solitude of the most idyllic setting of the foundry at the foot of the Ruwenzori Mountains, arranged with open thatched studios and work spaces for mould making, casting, furnace and metal working. Here I was able to work alongside the daily buzz of foundry-men in the warmth and gentle sounds of memorable birdsong’ insects, and reptiles amongst the lush vegetation, of exotic plants, seeds and trees.
During my stay I was impressed by my brief encounter with the culture of Ugandans of their interdependence within the family and still important clan structures, which led to my making the sculpture ‘Parts of a Whole’. I completed the work made of aluminium steel rods and wax and left it to be moulded and cast by the foundry team and later shipped to Pangolin Editions for patination. The figures were influenced by ancient wall paintings and the structure by traditions of basket weaving and raffia work.
My original ideas for my residency were to investigate the woman’s working role within the community but it would be difficult within the three weeks to research and it was suggested the women might be hesitant to talk about their position in society. I did find in the ‘Community Dialogue’ magazine, 2009 a shocking article about the practice of FGM which although illegal is still practiced not only in Uganda but other countries. I felt passionately for the young girls and as a woman felt able to comment with my sculpture ‘Rite of Passage’ So these were the two sculptures I developed while at Kyemihoko along with moulding a few samples of seeds showing the complex patterns of nature.
There was so much imagery to be found near Kasese with the salt pans, charcoal burners, wild animals, mythology, cultures, brick making, food wrapping, wrapping of all sorts, market stalls general bustle of the towns, over laden bikes and motor bikes, recycling, and of course the exuberant and often hard working children. But what stays in my minds eye is the overriding richness of the deep red soil, reflected in my sculptures of rust and bark cloth.
My experiences at RF have continued to inspire new work over the past nine years. When I returned home I created an accompanying mixed media drawing to ‘Rite of Passage’ titled ‘Imago’. and a charcoal drawing for ‘Parts of a Whole’ I constructed a small sculpture from an old oil drum, titled ’Bundles/Buganda’ with a charcoal covered cutout of women carrying wood, influenced by the Ugandan use of recycling materials and echoing the oil drum roofs of the lodge and gallery at the foundry.
I made ‘Inner Skin’, a life size boy, using a covering of bark cloth from the Matuba fig tree. The inner bark which re-grows is stripped from the tree, stretched, watered, beaten and left in the sun until a thin richly coloured cloth is formed. It is important to the Ugandan people and is used for ceremonial occasions by the Chiefs and Elders, is wrapped around the new-born and shrouds the dead.
I had an intricate children’s raffia ball cast in bronze, and created ‘Misfortune’ made from found twigs and raffia replaced with bronze, cast at a later visit to Uganda. This followed my meeting
with a story teller talking of the misfortune of having twins and other tales.
I have recently been influenced by the book ‘Beyond the Dance ’ and made ‘Like Mother’ and used the title of the book for a second piece ‘Beyond the Dance’ part of a cut-out series, made from an oil drum backed with mono prints. The book is a compilation of ‘Voices of women on female genital mutilation’ edited by Violet Barungi and Hilda Twongyeirwe published in 2009.
I cannot thank RF, Rungwe and Claude enough and all the team at Gallery Pangolin for giving me the opportunity of a residency in Uganda. And also thank the team at Kyemihoko, Emmanuel , David Jacob and others who were very helpful, fun and friendly throughout my stay. Peluce was a pleasure to have looking after us and I especially enjoyed spending my time with Isaac Okwir a fellow Ugandan artist sharing many hours of interesting conversation; a memorable and lasting experience followed by my exhibition ‘Corpus’ at Gallery Pangolin in 2012.
