Exhibition artists

Sara KatebalirweSara Katebalirwe is owner and lead designer of Marie-Sar Agencies Limited based in Kampala, Uganda. She began her design career as a self-taught garment designer after a brief career in social administration. After an opportunity at the United Nations Textile Development Agency (TEXDA), she became engaged with product development; a new direction for her work which previously focused on one of a kind and specialty made garments. Sara has continued to develop designs using bark cloth and raffia, sometimes in collaboration with Sarah Nakisanze of Uganda and Rene Malcorps of Art Nature and Design in the Netherlands. Sara been recognized for her innovative designs, including: the nomination for the ‘Pan-African Women Invent and Innovate Award’ (Ghana 2005), receiving the ‘Achievers Award (2005)’ from Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited, the prestigious ‘Canada Gift and Table Association’s Top 10 Product Winners 2007’ Award and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association’s ‘C. Busuulwa Pioneer Award’ for her work with bark cloth. Most recently she was a finalist in the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award in Paris in 2010.



Ivan Yakuze A graduate from Makerere University with a Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Arts degree in 2001, Ivan Yakuze was able to train under professors who encourage experimentation with mixed media design. Conversations surrounding the role and importance of bark cloth to the cultural heritage of Uganda were a part of the environment in which he worked and learned. His work has developed out of a strong sense of design; creating intuitively, finding freedom in a mixed media approach to material relationship. His relationship to the material he uses comes from his belief that everything has a purpose and function; it can be recycled into a new life.

Ivan continues to explore the potential for bark cloth in the creation of works that have found their way into collections in the United States and Uganda. He has worked with Fred Mutebi, of Let Art Talk, in a variety of education outreach opportunities that brings art to the communities in rural areas of Uganda.


Renè Malcorps, Art Nature Design and Kingskin DesignsRenè Malcorps, is owner and head designer at the company, Art Nature Design, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Early in his career as an artist and graphic designer, he focused on exploring the role of nature in his work. This interest eventually led him to pursue a Master’s in Sustainable Design at the Design Academy Eindhoven. During his studies, he discovered bark cloth and eventually formed Art Nature Design, creating bark cloth products under the brand Kingskin; selling special and sustainable products made of natural materials from Uganda. His focus on the relationship of the environment to sustainable product design has led Renè to pursue projects that benefit the local economy and environment in Uganda, including a future partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute. In addition to designing for and running his business, he is currently teaching In and Outdoor Design at the The Green Campus in Helmond. Renè has won several awards including the international BID Challenge Award in 2006 and the Small Business Innovation Research Programma award for Biodiversity in 2009.

Emily Brewer, Decode DesignsEmily Brewer is a UK based designer who has been working with bark cloth for close to four years to create sustainable interior textile objects. She found that bark cloth allowed her to reconcile her designs with a desire to minimize the environmental impact of non-renewable materials. Through her company, Decode Designs, she explores the potential of this material in 3-dimensional design, sculpting it into patterned structures that respond to the unique color and tactility of each piece of bark cloth. She creates wall coverings, lamps, wall panels and more; her work can be found in private collections in the UK and United States. Her focus on using sustainable materials has taken her to exhibitions and fairs in Europe and the United States, including Maison et Object in Paris and Ecobuild in London. As she continues to work with bark cloth, she has “developed a certain respect for it and for what, after all, was once a living plant.”

The Exhibition - Material Evolution: Ugandan Bark Cloth

There were so many wonderful artists and designers involved in the exhibition that I wanted to give you an idea of who they are and what they do. So in two postings, you will see an image of the piece and a bio on their work.
Here are the bios, in no particular order, from the exhibition artists and designers.
All photos courtesy of University of North Texas Art Gallery; photography by Matt Golden. All images copyrighted.


Gloria Wavamunno is a London trained and Uganda based fashion designer. Her label GloRia WavaMunno was launched in 2009 at Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her blend of printed kitenge fabrics with silks, cottons and other fabrics has brought praise for her designs. Recently, her design was featured on the cover of Arise Magazine in July 2009 and she was awarded the Overall Designer of the Year at the Afrikan Fashion Awards in 2010. Gloria’s work can be also found off the runways as a video stylist for several Ugandan musicians including Navio and Mys Natty.

Susana Duarte-Pinto Susan Pinto’s fashion design label Losgeloest is based in Frieburg, Germany. Her work is an exploration of texture, manipulating sustainable materials to create innovative surfaces. She was introduced to bark cloth through Oliver Heintz at Bark Cloth Europe five years ago. She is able to transform bark cloth into a soft, wearable garment, exploring various surface techniques including felting and dyeing. Her work has been recognized for its innovation, including the ISPO BrandNew award.



Peter BoehmPeter Boehm considers himself a carpenter first and foremost. In 2000, he formed his company, Inform, specializing in custom designed furniture, cabinetry and more. His interest in art, architecture and design influences his work, while a sensibility for materials is explored through his furniture line, KUHLT, started in 2010. An interest in new materials brought him to explore bark cloth as a new addition to the KUHLT line. His work is found in private residences throughout Germany and Luxemborg.




Markus WernerSince his childhood, German designer Markus Werner wanted to make shoes. His first pair was created at age 10, out of clay. This passion was put on hold; after graduation in Integrated Product Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg in 2006, he moved to Estonia to support a design office there. He returned to Germany to hold an internship at a small factory for safety and professional shoes. This experience enabled him to learn how to make shoes from the scratch while working as a shoe developer for the last two years. In 2010 he started his project Vimagana (Norwegian for “we want to go now”), creating shoes that combine ecological materials with unique design elements. Starting from usual shoe manufacturing processes and materials, his aim is to replace traditional materials with more exciting non-polluting materials like Ugandan bark cloth.


Oliver Heintz and Mary Barongo Heintz of Bark Cloth EuropeFor 10 years, Oliver Heintz along with his wife and business partner, Mary Barongo, has been exploring the potential of Ugandan bark cloth to serve as a new material for artists and designers worldwide. He formed the company BARK CLOTH® Europe, with offices and workshops in Uganda and Germany where they continue to push the limits of this natural material by dyeing, gilding, rubberizing, bleaching, and more. They have won numerous design awards throughout Europe, including the Innovation Award BioMaterial of the Year and the Materialica Design + Technology Award; they are nominated for the 2011 Design Award of The Federal Republic of Germany. Through their promotion of bark cloth, they have worked with numerous designers and companies to explore concept works that test the potential of bark cloth in product design and artwork. As seen in this exhibition, they have worked with companies like Mercedes Benz to explore the use of bark cloth in car interiors. They combined bark cloth and felt to create functional furniture in collaboration with Jakob Lang. Through the initial design work by Mary, women in Uganda were taught to create innovative designs by stitching bark cloth panels for the wall covering by ARTE International of Belgium.



Sarah NakisanzeKampala based designer and lecturer, Sarah Nakisanze began creating at an early age through the influence of her mother who was a teacher and dressmaker. As an undergraduate student at Makerere University, she studied painting and drawing. A catalyst for her interest in textiles and culturally relevant materials came in the mid-90s as she was working in a Kampala based art gallery. She became familiar with Kuba cloths from Congo; their strong cultural attachments and distinctive materials led Sarah to push for a similar reflection of Uganda in the work she was creating. In 1999, Makerere University hosted a printing workshop in which Sarah began experimenting on bark cloth; she discovered that it held many possibilities as an art medium. In 2000, Sarah was selected to participate in a training project sponsored by the United Nations Textile Development Agency (TEXDA). In addition to winning several TEXDA design awards, through this program, she acquired business training that gave her the skills to develop her pursuits as an artist into a successful career. Sarah is currently Assistant Lecture at the Makerere University Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts. She also runs her design business, Easy Afric Designs where her work is shown in local venues as well as through several international fair trade organizations. She has exhibited internationally, including shows in the UK and United States.