mentorship
project
paint-makers of lira, uganda
2024 wrap-up
Okeme of Lango, abwoc-yie-kec-ogwang-ponci
Since mid-2023, PRI has been mentoring and supporting a group of Ugandan young adults in their quest to learn how to forage for pigments and make paint. Throughout this journey they have learned many new skills, including measuring, how to keep notes and document their work, how to see color in the landscape, how to read a recipe, and so very much more.
As you can see from the photos, the conditions in which they are producing these beautiful pigments are rudimentary, and the tools they're using are a mishmash of found and made objects.
Since the inception of this project the team has learned to adapt tools, storage containers and other things to fit their needs. They collect empty water bottles to store pigments in and have scavenged a wide variety of other plastic containers for other tasks.
Almost nothing is purchased, not even the gum Arabic used in their watercolors. Acacia trees grow prolifically in the region so they collect and dry their own gum Arabic. In the photo at the left, one of the team members is stripping a bit of bark off an acacia tree which will make it exude the gum. At first the gum has a jelly-like consistency, but they lay it out on large trays to dry in the sun then grind it by hand.
Their ability to work low tech and do everything by hand helps with quality control, but also adds the human touch. When you open a jar of Bala Maroon or Ongica Yellow, you can can almost hear the laughter of the team as they work together in their makeshift workshop!
It has been an incredible journey of learning, both on the parts of Sharon, Nancy, Halmond and Deo, and those of us at PRI who have worked with them. Unfamiliar with conditions in Uganda, we quickly discovered none of them knew what a pigment was let alone where to find them and what to do with them. The only paint tradition that exists in Uganda is that of hut painting, but much of the knowledge around that has been lost. After sending a basic watercolor recipe, I found out they were never taught how to measure anything, do more than rudimentary math (2+2 rudimentary), and had never even heard of a recipe! It became a challenge to figure out ways of teaching them things that an ordinary 4th grader in the Western world would know.
Between interviewing elders, potters and a former champion hut-painter, they were able to gather just enough information to begin searching for pigments. We worked on teaching them how to identify materials that would make good color and how to process them, but along the way we learned they had never been taught how to measure anything (let alone having access to measuring utensils), how to problem-solve, as well as a multitude of practical skills and cognitive thinking.
The team's day-to-day lives don't include the kinds of objects so many of us take for granted: measuring spoons and scales, mortar and pestle, storage containers, even paper and brushes to paint out color swatches, and there's no place to purchase these things even if they could afford to, so they had to get inventive. Sharon obtained a slab of granite for a grinding slab and then the search was on for a muller. The effort, time, energy, thought and creative thinking that went into all of this was challenging for them since they'd never had an opportunity to think outside the boxes prescribed by their living conditions, appalling education (they are not even taught how to write in their own language; only English), and the strictures of their living conditions.
In the photo to the left, Sharon is scraping soot off the cooking pots for a gorgeous, silky black pigment. Most people in Uganda still cook over open fires; they don't have electricity or running water, let alone cook stoves.
Sharon's ability to look around her and see creative ways of achieving things is one of the team's best assets. She thinks outside the box, mainly because there is no box in her world. Do try her soot black!
In spite of so many obstacles, the team has persevered. They scavenged empty rice and bean bags to hold newly foraged pigments, and used empty water bottles to store pigments as they were processed. They sourced wild harvested honey to use as a humectant, made their own eucalyptus oil from fresh leaves, and ground and mulled for days on end. To make certain there were no microbes or bacteria in the pigments they spread them on large sheets of plastic to dry in the hot sun.
In the photo to the left, you can see how they're storing pigments in discarded water bottles. It's good to know someone has found a good use for something so many of us throw away!
As part of the learning process we had them
visit local villages and interview the few
remaining elders to learn about the customs
and traditions around pigments and color.
They were excited to learn about the days
when hut-painting competitions were held
and the festivities that ensued. Elders were
eager to share stories and information,
knowing that passing this knowledge down
is vital for the continuation of cultures that
have almost entirely been wiped out.
The team, along with community members, are revitalizing the tradition of hut painting. Adults and children alike are intrigued by this tradition and eager to restore it.
While pigments and paint-making have changed how the team lives, thinks and more, it has also been beneficial to others in the area. PML relies on community members, family and friends to make or obtain the materials they require to keep the business growing. From potters who make palettes, to people who collect wild honey, and others who now do some of the pigment foraging, this has become a community-wide effort.
In addition, the team is also helping restore knowledge and practices lost when so many older people died during the war. However, they are bringing that knowledge forward by interviewing Ugandan elders to learn about cultural practices that can be used to revitalize traditional Ugandan ways of living and being that can help unify communities and restore and affirm individual and communal identities. They have also begun teaching others about traditional paint practices, primarily for huts, but also ritual/ceremonial body painting. While paint was not used to create "art" according to the Western definition of art, hut painting reached such importance that competitions were held to see who could paint the best design which brought communities together in a celebratory and fun way, and was a great artistic endeavor.
It hasn't been an easy journey for this small team of young adults who less than 18 months ago had no clue what a pigment was. Over these past months they have succeeded in not just making beautiful pigments that any artist would be proud to use, they have also built a business that helps provide much needed income to support themselves and their families in a country that is struggling to recover from thirty years of warfare.
Their perseverance, determination, eagerness to learn and incredible capacity to embrace entirely new things is inspiring and beautiful to watch. I am very proud to have even a tiny part in their journey and success!
For more information about Paint Makers of Lira, click here. You can find Paint Makers of Lira pigments and watercolors here. And follow them on Instagram.
You can read Sharon's story here, and meet the team here.
All sales profits go directly to the team in Uganda.