Mutabuza Mark on Uganda's Art & Culture - 11 views
started by Karen Keifer-Boyd on 04 Dec 11
started by Karen Keifer-Boyd on 04 Dec 11
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started by Karen Keifer-Boyd on 04 Dec 11
However a case in point is Uganda art and culture, in Uganda we have different cultures like the Baganda, the Banyankole, the iteso, the Lou, the Batooro, the Bakonjo among others all these different cultures produce art works according to the their culture and belief a good example is the art work produced in Buganda cannot be the same art work produced in the Ankole land. Many regions in Uganda have kingdoms including Buganda, Busoga, Bunyoro and Toro.
Culture and traditions are also expressed through a wide range of arts and Crafts made from wood, clay, glass, animal skin, borns, seeds, stones, Papyrus reeds and among other local materials. These include black smith implements, beaded Jewellery, wood carvings and batiks. They can be found all over the city that around Kampala, mbarara, in village bazaars, gift shops, hotels, urban galleries and the National Theatre Craft Market.
Culture in modern day Uganda is mainly portrayed by the Bantu-speaking kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole and Toro, which still serve as important cultural figureheads like the king's stool, drums, back cloth, spears, wood carving, among others. According to oral tradition, these centuries-old kingdoms are offshoots of the mediaeval kingdoms of Batembuzi and Bacwezi, which lay in the vicinity of present-day Mubende and Ntusi.
Uganda's cultural diversity is also boosted in the northeast by the presence of the Karimojong, this are people from the north of Uganda they are believed to Uganda from Kenya, traditional pastoralists whose lifestyle and culture is reminiscent of the renowned Maasai, and in the northwest by a patchwork of agricultural peoples whose Nilotic languages and cultures are rooted in what is now Sudan.
Music and dancing form an inseparable part of the Ugandan culture. It plays an important role in the traditions of all Uganda's people, with Baganda favoring the kiganda dance called Bakisimba, Tamenha Ibuga of Busoga, Amakondere of Bunyoro and Ekizino of Ankole. Traditional songs are accompanied by traditional instruments such as: Drums, logs, xylophones, maracas or shakers Ensasi Musical instruments play an important role in Uganda communities. They contribute to the social, psychological, therapeutically and educational existence of people.
CULTURAL SITES IN UGANDA
Kasubi Tombs in Buganda. Heritage place and the tombs are burial grounds for Kings of the Buganda Kingdom referred to as 'Kabaka"
Mparo Tombs found in Hoima. Are burial grounds for kings in the Bunyoro Kingdom. One of the most outstanding graves for the Omukama- a title for their kings, in this place is that of the Omukama Kabarega's grave.
Bigo bya Mugenyi. It has holds numerous earthwork that was done by the Bachwezi people and other related kingdoms.
Namugongo Shrine. This Uganda martyrs' shrine is a very vital attraction in Uganda's history. It is at this place where twenty two catholic Christian converts were brutally executed following the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II in the year 1886.
Baker's Fort in Patiko. This striking stone structure is a birthright of Baker's outstanding work against slavery in this area.
Others cultural sites in Uganda we have.
Nakayima Tree found in Mubende District
Nkokonjeru Tombs located in Kakiika
Nyero Rock Paintings situated in Ngora
Naggalabi-Buddo Coronation Site located in Wakiso District
Wamala Tombs
Nnamasole Baagalayaze Tombs & cultural center
Art and craft are part of our culture. Crafts have been developed through the traditions of the people like the Baganda, the Lou, the Masai, the Banyankole, and the Batooro among others. Art and craft are a result of the feelings of the people responding to a variety of historical events and influences and the environment in a most spontaneous manner. Art is the creation of works of beauty through the application of skill resulting from knowledge and regular practice. Craft on the other hand is taken as an occupation, especially one in which skills or techniques in the use of the hands are needed. Craftsmanship in Uganda is a practice that has been passed down from generation to generation. It includes crafts like basketry, pottery, wood-curving and the like.
The commonest domestic woodcraft products include; stools, beds, mortars and pestles, bowls, ladles, trays, wooden canoes and others. Some carvings are also done as decorations taking the form of masks, omweso boards, walking sticks and others.
Traditional craft items in Uganda cultures include amulets, necklaces or beads, arm and leg ornaments, bracelets, rings, and headdresses. For example, the Karimojong headdress is made from human hair felted together with grease and clay. It is strengthened by a wire framework round the front edge. It is patterned with red, blue and yellow paint. The metal eyelets across the crown and at the back are used t hold ostrich features and other ornaments.
The local potter in the village builds his pots of whatever description and function from the base upwards the rim. The potter uses the coiling method and clay is used in making it. Thus the method of pottery making is the same for the Alur, the Batooro, the Basoga, and the Lango. The local pots have different uses like in the Baganda it was used mainly by the Kabaka and among the Banyankole and the Batooro the local pot was used to save local beer to the King.
Making musical instruments involves men that were like Engalabi, drums, pipes, obukyankya among others. Even the use and manipulation of musical instruments such as drums and fiddles was strictly meant over men alone. However, due to external influence and introduction of schools today, all sorts of people participate fully in the playing of musical instruments.
Backcloth making and related crafts are also common mostly in Bantu regions. The natalansis tree omutuba. The process involves the use of a specially made heavy, grooved mallet ensaamu. As the craftsman hits the bark with the mallet, the fibrous bark becomes thinner and larger. Traditionally, the backcloth was purposely made to be used as burial shrouds, bedding and clothing; and carpeting the floor of the kings' palaces, especially in Buganda, Toro and Bunyoro the barkcloth was replaced by cotton and other clothing materials, new items like tablemats, shoulder bags, hand bags, briefcases, purses, cushion covers and others have been made form barkcloth.
In most cultures, the making of metallic tools and other utilities by blacksmiths was also a common practice. Blacksmiths made cutting tools, the majority of which were the spears and arrow. The blacksmiths were mostly found in Ankole Kingdom they made things like spears, hoes, axes, cups, shields, arrows, bangles among others.
Raw Materials:
Most of the components and raw materials are found naturally in Uganda - local grasses and papyrus, banana fibers and palm leaves, gemstones, seeds, horn and woods, as well as skins and local leathers. Bark cloth from the Omutuba tree is particularly enchanting, and is widely used for mats, cushions and hats. Jewellery can be hand made from a broad range of materials, and provides distinctive decoration for both ladies and gentlemen.
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 2:21 AM
The earliest human inhabitants in a contemporary Uganda were hunter-gathers. Remnants of these people are today to be found among the pygmies in western Uganda. Between approximately 2500 to 1500 years ago, Bantu speaking populations from Central Africa migrated and occupied most of the southern parts of the country. This culture was part of the Urewe, or early eastern Bantu cultural complex. There was at around 1000 AD the arrival of the Hamitic peoples into Southern Uganda and Rwanda,Burundi peoples known locally as the BaChwezi who brought with them ideas of animal husbandry agriculture, iron working skills and new ideas of social and political organization, and Clan systems.Then a second migration of the Nilotic peoples took place several centuries later.Those people were known as the Luo-Babiito, locally.The assimilation of the Bachwezi, Luo-Babiito and the Eastern Bantu (Urewe)led to the formation of the peoples of the following kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro-Kitara,Tooro, Busoga and Ankole. Including the inhabitants of those in Rwanda and Burundi, and Kagera/Bukoba (Bahaya/ Baziba) in North-Eastern Tanzania.These very inhabitants of this admixture are normally referred to as Interlacustrine Bantu.
In 1888, control of the emerging British "sphere of interest" in East Africa was assigned by royal charter to William Mackinnon's Imperial British East Africa Company, an arrangement strengthened in 1890 by an Anglo-German agreement confirming British dominance over Kenya and Uganda. The high cost of occupying the territory caused the company to withdraw in 1893, and its administrative functions were taken over by a British commissioner. In 1894, the Kingdom of Uganda was placed under a formal British protectorate. In 1888, control of the emerging British "sphere of interest" in East Africa was assigned by royal charter to William Mackinnon's
Head of state Yoweri Museveni from 1986 Head of government Apolo Nsibambi from 1999 Political system authoritarian nationalist Political executive unlimited presidency Administrative divisions 39 districts, grouped in four geographical regions Political parties National Resistance Movement (NRM), left of centre; Democratic Party (DP), left of centre; Conservative Party (CP), right of centre; Uganda People's Congress (UPC), left of centre; Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM), left of centre.
Uganda's climate is tropical. This means it is generally rainy (particularly during the months of March to May, September to November), while the remaining months (December to February, June to August) comprise Uganda's two dry seasons.
Fertile soils and tropical rains make most of Uganda a swathe of greenery with the exception of the far north where the semi-desert conditions encourage dry acacia woodland.
Vegetation is, or was, thicker in the south where much of the indigenous forest has made way for agriculture.
The central plateau is characterised by rolling grassy hills and the wooded savannah common to much of East Africa.
In the western highlands cultivated plots have replaced much of the lower-elevation rainforest but dense forest still covers the medium-level elevations.
At higher altitudes bamboo forest gives way to Afro-alpine moorland, an area famous for gigantism among species such as groundsel, heather and lobelias.
Below are some of the wild life, vegetation of Uganda.
Uganda Equator
Tienda en la línea del ecuador (Uganda)