Connections made...highlighting Kinderen van Uganda

Since 1995 Kinderen van Uganda, under the leadership of Ruud Boon, has supported a varity of projects in Uganda. Since 2000, Fred has worked with KvU in Uganda and giving workshops on printmaking in Holland. It was through their connection that Project Kibinge started. With the support of a Dutch fund they are building the Community House in Bugoga, Kibinge. They are in the process of raising support for finishing the roof; once this building is complete it will serve as the centre of activities for the communities of Kibinge.

KvU was a supporter of the Renewing Material project, their groundwork in the Kibinge area and the use of the community building site allowed us to join together as we promote the preservation of bark cloth. Their continued investment in the area will build from what we did by continuing the conversation surrounding bark cloth. They are able to go a step further; they continue to support tree planting efforts, are investigating new markets for Bark Cloth/Lubugo in Europe and will be investigating the possibilities of carbon rights which could make it possible to invest in child-projects in Kibinge and other areas in Uganda.

Here is an excerpt from a recent email from Ruud - "In Uganda we are supporting a shelter for streetchildren in Kampala,school sponsoring vocational secondary education, a primary school near Jinja and the mother and child care program in Mukono. Kibinge is the other and important part of our work.In this project Kibinge we work together with the municipality of Deventer, the city we are living. It is great that this municipality wants to support the project and the local council of Masaka in improving policies for childcare, education and rural development. The most important thing in Kibinge is to help the communities in making their own plans for the future.We want to support this with ideas, attention and some funds. During my last visit I met the local people of Kibinge and i am very sure these communities want to make a better future for the families and children.
They earn our support!"

For more info, see www.kinderenvanuganda.nl

I have included photos of the Kibinge community center in progress as well as a group of students from the local teachers college participating in a Talking Mural led by Fred Mutebi. This is being painted on the community center, facing the road.

The First Week...odds and ends

A good friend of Fred's and someone who I have enjoyed getting to know over the years is Rose Mwanja, chief conservator from the Uganda Museum. She has been so gracious to me as I have been researching plaited mat making and bark cloth. During my trip in 2008, she was one of the scholars who was interviewed for the Material Evolution exhibition. We barely made it through the interview for laughing so much. I am very thankful for her support. She was to make it to the exhibition in Masaka but had an emergency at the museum the morning of - we missed having her there! That is Fred seated to her right.



During my trip, someone asked me who Fred Mutebi was and what he did. I tried to explain about his artwork, his work with children and the community, but it was becoming too lengthy - so I just said that he is an artist activist. I feel that is a good title for an artist who is so concerned about the trials of his country that he works hard using what he knows, art, to brings about conversation and provoke people to think about issues. I say all of this to introduce a project that I was able to see Fred work on with secondary school students at the Lubiri Secondary School. In February, elections will be coming and with that the potential for violence. Fred worked with an organization called Fair Pen (www.fairpen.com) to organize the creation of a Talking Mural with the theme of "Together we can talk to avoid electoral violence."
Fred continued this message as he worked with the Lubiri students to create prints using a reductive method. I had the opportunity to attend and talk with some of the students. I am including some images from that workshop.