Week 7 - Cultural Blog - 18/03/13

This week Joanna and I decided that we needed to break out of weekly routine of university, school, planning and ‘Gossip Girl’ and experience ‘The Arts’ of Uganda.

The African Craft Village

One of the huts at the Craft Village.

First stop was the African Crafts Village in the centre of Kampala. This is a series of huts set out in semi- circle that sell local crafts such as jewellery, bags, scarves, recycled paper products, wooden masks and porcelain kitchen utensils. “It is a style less sophisticated than that of the Western art world but that is growing in popularity and stature in galleries around the world” (Barlas and Yong, 2010, p.78).Albeit that most of the stalls sold the same products, it was great to see all the hand-made crafts and really interesting to see and hear from the shop owners how some of the products were made and techniques been passed on from generation to generation. 

Then, with our friends from ‘Dwelling Places’, we went to see a play in the National Theatre called ‘My Maid and I’. This was to celebrate ‘International Women’s Day’ and the last day of ‘Uganda’s First Annual Theatre Festival’. This festival seemed to be similar to the Speech and Drama Festivals that I have participated in and spectated at in Northern Ireland. Each day was divided into different categories and the panel of judges gave their scores and comments on each performance and awards were given to the top candidates.

After buying our goodies, popcorn (made fresh), mars bar and soda, we took our seats in the auditorium. The story of the play gave Joanna and me an insight into the relationship between maids and their employers in Uganda. It was conveyed in a Brechtian style where the set was the same for the entire performance and the two women played all of the characters by simply changing their clothes, mannerisms and accents. At some points it was hard to understand what they were saying due to the lack of microphones but at some other points the rest of the Ugandan audience was laughing and we weren’t. I presume it was Ugandan humour, similarly to how we have Northern Irish humour that only we understand. 

A snapshot of one of the scenes in 'My Maid and I'.

After experiencing some Ugandan art and drama, we decided then to go a see some traditional dance and music as “they are a clear reflection of what's going on in the hearts and minds of the culture” (Amos, 2005, p.78). One of our Ugandan friends, Nailly, invited us to go and see a dance troupe rehearse in her local village. The troupe itself was made up of approximately 20 women and teenagers who performed three different types of African dance. These all involved a lot of squealing, clapping and bum wiggling. The music was played by men using a variety of traditional African percussion instruments.

One of the traditional African dances.

The men with their instruments ready to play.

This was a very enjoyable evening where Joanna and I really felt like we were in Africa. It was a great experience to be able to witness the dance troupe in their own setting and with the local people.

Some of the local people sitting beside us.

 All of these events have given Joanna and me a great insight into the Ugandan culture and it was great to witness these ‘Arts’ first- hand.

References:

Amos, T. (2005) Piece by Piece, Broadway, New York.

Barlas, R. and Yong, L.,J. (2010) Cultures of the World: Uganda, Times Publishing, New York.