How Iwang Sawa showcases contemporary works of art

Acaye Elizabeth Pamela Kerunen’s exhibition titled Iwang Sawa (Alur for: ‘In the eye of time’) showcases contemporary Ugandan handwoven artwork and installations made out of natural fibres like banana fibre, palm leaves, sisal, raffia, stripped sorghum stems and reeds.

The materials are traditionally used by Ugandan artisans to create everyday functional objects like mikeka rolls (handwoven mats from palm leaf material), ebiibo (hand woven and twinned baskets from banana fibre and raffia), woven rings and ebikapu (bags from palm leaves and raffia).

The five-week exhibition opened on September 18, at the Afriart Gallery in Kampala's Industrial Area and will close on October 28 is collaboration between Acaye as the curator/artist and artisans involved the commissioning of weaving artisans to make woven materials.

Form, shape and texture

The materials were curated and repurposed into non-functional pieces. The pieces assume conceptual meanings and draw on aesthetics of form, shape and texture. The artworks are made by women from Gulu, Kigorobya, Kyotera, Luwero, Mukono, Kabarole and Kampala in Uganda.

Iwang Sawa’s narrative is multi-layered one, involving aspects of making, heritage, time, meaning, purpose and innovation.

The Mauwa (flower in Kiswahili) installation was designed in form of a flower petal. It celebrates banana fibre and palm leaves. “Banana fibre and palm leaves are some of the most sustainable fibres in Uganda. Many homes have banana plants. Banana fibre and palm leaves do not destroy the environment,” Acaye says.

Kirigya (‘it will come’ in Luganda) that consists of four suspended ebikapu is about food security. According to Acaye, ebikapu are undervalued on the local market but highly valued in Europe, where they sell for up to $400 per bag.

“To make beautiful objects, you need excellence in crafts making. The patterns should be organised, the colours pleasing to the eye, and the handiwork neat. For example, a mukeka (mat), has patterns blending into each other, and the knots neatly woven. These features attest to lengthy periods spent at a single repetitive task. Yet these crafts are undervalued by most locals.”

From wetland to gallery

“An imitation Chinese table mat for instance costs more than a hand woven set of table mats from natural fibre. It is the goal of this exhibition to highlight the value of these traditional handicrafts anew. And, to do this by showcasing them in a different light...”

“As an artist/curator, I am fired up by the philosophies and heritage that underpin artwork by women. Majority of traditional handicrafts like basket and mat weaving, are primarily a forte for women, with the exception of pottery, wood and stone sculpturing,” she added.

She says: “Iwang Sawa is a metaphor as well as a symbol of the time capsule in which we are. We are at the crossroads between the past and the present. A mat that used to serve a domestic function now becomes a wall hanging, simply for aesthetic purposes. A basket gets deconstructed to become an installation in my work. Time has changed how we value traditional skills attached to weaving.”

This exhibition invites grassroots women weavers and artisans back into the contemporary artspace. It also refocused attention back onto heritage learning and skills into prominence for education and learning. Our present education and delivery from within a formal setting has lost touch with reality. Crafting and craft skills embody a viable thematic curriculum that includes both soft and hard skills,” she says.

On the lessons she has leant from her interaction with handicraft makers, Acaye replied: “Too many to fit here. There is a misconception that spending time within a four-walled classroom, learning to write their name in English is a mark of literacy. These women are so learned in ways I am just learning to become. For instance, how they manage to reverse age from living simple lives.”