Textiles

Woven fabrics were not independently discovered in East Africa; animal skins were used and reeds were woven into baskets.  Barkcloth was reserved for the royal family and also for shrouds.

The Uganda Museum had a video describing how barkcloth is made. A complete six foot long section of bark is carefully removed from a living ficus tree and the bare trunk is tightly bandaged with banana leaves so that a new layer of bark can regenerate.  The bark is dipped in boiling water to clean and soften it and then is hammered and stretched in different directions with round, ribbed wooden mallets, until it is several times its original size and thin and flexible, like fine leather.  The hammering process gives the barkcloth a wonderful texture, and it is cured in the sun to a rich red-brown color.

On June 23 I visited the Kasubi Tombs, at the palace of former Baganda King Ssekabaka Mutesa II.  Barkcloth was used in clothing and as curtains to divide off rooms inside the thatched huts.  Artists at the tombs make wonderful paintings of market scenes, women and animals on barkcloth and of course, I had to have one - buying art is fast becoming a habit. This was painted by my tour guide, Fred Mdawla.

Of course woven fabrics are widely available today in all kinds of bright gaudy colors and patterns.  While most younger women wear fashionable western style clothes (usually skirts and dresses), older women and country women wear more traditional styles, some loose kaftans, other long skirts with matching blouses, some with curious peaked sleeves.  The kitenge or shawl is an indispensable accessory to all women whether modern or traditional and doubles as a headscarf, sling for a baby or coiled up as a support for a load carried on the head.  I found a kitenge printed with an irresistible design and had it made into a traditional style dress by a local tailor, Bridget. Here is the one and only Obama dress!

Bridget has promised to make a matching scarf out of the trimmings!

The traditional Ugandan dress is called a gomesi and is made of shiny fabric with peaked puff sleeves. a square yoke neckline and wraps around, fastening on one shoulder with a big button.  I am contemplating having a black one made to wear as a concert dress....