Between 2004 and 2006 Ruwenzori Foundation sponsored a series of four workshops at Makerere University, Kampala, to encourage students and teaching staff to consider how they might use the casting process as a vehicle for sculpture and also to demonstrate how techniques might be adapted to local materials and facilities.
Makerere I – 2004
Led by sculptor Jon Buck, this workshop focussed on modelling in wax and the brief to students was to create an image representing the totem of their family clan. The diverse array of resulting works were then directly cast into bronze without the need for a mould.
Makerere II – 2005
Led by bronze caster Ken Cook and assisted by Pangolin Editions craftsman Ian Brown, this workshop focussed on a practical-based workshop casting fully 3-dimensional hollow bronzes with associated techniques of joining and filling metal parts. As part of current practice, several Ugandan artists continued to cast sculpture on their own and as a result sculptor Ronnie Mpindi was invited to run a workshop in Mauritius.
Makerere III – 2005
Led by bronze caster and sculptor Steve Hurst and Steve Maule director of Pangolin Editions Ltd, this workshop focussed on refining the techniques of metalwork finishes and perfecting the methods of direct casting using clay reliefs, resulting in about 30 castings of high quality, all produced in Uganda.
Makerere IV – 2006
Assisted by Art Lecturer Steve Mwesigwa, the Foundation sponsored Ronnie Mpindi and Tony Bukenya to research the local availability of casting materials such as clay, sand and wax. They not only sourced suitable materials but also put them to the test through a variety of casting experiments. This was a resource of immense benefit to Rwenzori Founders in Kyemihoko in the early days of 2008 when the foundry workshops and its kilns were being built.
