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| Material Evolution: Ugandan Bark Cloth — shows how bark cloth made from the Ugandan mutuba trees can be used to create commonplace items. |
Ugandan bark cloth exhibition at UNT highlights sustainable art
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- A new exhibition at the University of North Texas features international artists and designers who create artistic works and everyday functional items from bark cloth, focusing on creating sustainable and environmentally friendly design solutions from a centuries-old process.
The exhibition -- titled Material Evolution: Ugandan Bark Cloth -- shows how bark cloth made from the Ugandan mutuba trees can be used to create commonplace items such as men's shoes, a jacket and a bark cloth-wrapped steering wheel. Other featured items include artistic works such as wall coverings made of bark cloth and a bark-cloth dress used in contemporary Ugandan wedding ceremonies.
The items will be on display March 1 (Tuesday) through March 26 (Saturday) at the UNT Art Galleryin the UNT Art Building, one block west of Mulberry and Welch streets. An opening reception will be held 4:30 to 6 p.m. March 1 (Tuesday).
"For hundreds of years, bark cloth has been a part of the Buganda Kingdom of Uganda, and now this unique material is finding a place in contemporary art and design, both in Uganda and abroad," said Lesli Robertson, curator of the exhibition and a lecturer in the fibers program at the UNTCollege of Visual Arts and Design.
Robertson, who is a faculty fellow in UNT's Institute for the Advancement of the Arts, has traveled to Uganda several times in the last few years to study the process of making bark cloth. Also in the last few years, Robertson has organized various community projects to engage schoolchildren in Uganda and the United States in an exchange of artistic ideas. A mural created by those schoolchildren will be on display in the March exhibition.
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