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.