OUR COLLECTION — AFRICA — UGANDA 254. BARK CLOTH & SPEAR GRASS NATIVITY
This Nativity features the Holy Family visited in their African hut by two shepherds and an ox. The base of the hut is wood, covered with bark cloth. The walls and roof are yellow cardboard. The walls are covered with bark cloth while the roof is covered with spear grass that has been glued to the cardboard to make a distinctive roof point. The figures wear bark cloth and their arms are fashioned from black electrical wire. The Nativity measures 8 inches tall by 4 inches in diameter.
This item is made by Yekosofati Buwembo, a disabled father in Kampala, Uganda. He is married with 4 children. Despite his reliance on crutches for mobility, he prefers the motto: “Enabled, not disabled!” He makes huts using bark cloth and spear grass, in which he creatively depicts African homesteads. He is able to send his children to school, manage his home, and buy clothing because of his craft.
Bark cloth has a rich history: the inner bark of the Mutuba tree has been crafted by Bagandan artisans into cloth for over 600 years. It has a strong place in their culture as it is still used by the royal family, traditional healers, and as a burial shroud at funerals. This unique process of changing bark into cloth begins with the removal of the outer bark of the Mutuba tree, exposing an under-layer of moist, fleshy trunk. Horizontal and vertical cuts are made the length of the tree, allowing the artisan to use an angled banana stalk to peel away the inner bark. What falls away from the tree is a narrow section of bark. Banana leaves are cut and wrapped around the exposed trunk, keeping it moist and allowing the bark to grow back within a year. To deepen the rust color of the bark, dried banana leaves are placed on top of it and set on fire. The artisan carefully brushes off the ash, washes it and then wraps it in fresh banana leaves, keeping it moist so it can be worked. The next day the artisan begins creating bark cloth by repeatedly pounding it with a grooved mallet as has been done for generations. Each carefully placed hit leaves its grooved impression on the surface of the bark. With time the bark slowly widens, softening it into cloth. After five hours of constant laborious pounding, the artisan finishes the cloth. He lays it fully in the sun, pulling it tight while laying rocks around the edges.
This item is made by Yekosofati Buwembo, a disabled father in Kampala, Uganda. He is married with 4 children. Despite his reliance on crutches for mobility, he prefers the motto: “Enabled, not disabled!” He makes huts using bark cloth and spear grass, in which he creatively depicts African homesteads. He is able to send his children to school, manage his home, and buy clothing because of his craft.
Bark cloth has a rich history: the inner bark of the Mutuba tree has been crafted by Bagandan artisans into cloth for over 600 years. It has a strong place in their culture as it is still used by the royal family, traditional healers, and as a burial shroud at funerals. This unique process of changing bark into cloth begins with the removal of the outer bark of the Mutuba tree, exposing an under-layer of moist, fleshy trunk. Horizontal and vertical cuts are made the length of the tree, allowing the artisan to use an angled banana stalk to peel away the inner bark. What falls away from the tree is a narrow section of bark. Banana leaves are cut and wrapped around the exposed trunk, keeping it moist and allowing the bark to grow back within a year. To deepen the rust color of the bark, dried banana leaves are placed on top of it and set on fire. The artisan carefully brushes off the ash, washes it and then wraps it in fresh banana leaves, keeping it moist so it can be worked. The next day the artisan begins creating bark cloth by repeatedly pounding it with a grooved mallet as has been done for generations. Each carefully placed hit leaves its grooved impression on the surface of the bark. With time the bark slowly widens, softening it into cloth. After five hours of constant laborious pounding, the artisan finishes the cloth. He lays it fully in the sun, pulling it tight while laying rocks around the edges.