I am enjoying creating a space for rest that inherently shocks Ugandans. I didn’t grow up knowing the #matuba bark cloth is used to shroud the dead, care and protect them on their journey back into the earth by the Ganda tribe. I've chosen a sheet of #barkcloth hammered until smooth and soft, because I know my great grandparents's generation wore it as clothing and it’s a wonderous renewable material. The tree is not cut down and the bark grows back. The imperialist, white supremacist and capitalist Christian missionaries called this practice demonic and introduced textiles and fabrics from other parts of the empire.
In making this site of rest with these inherent tensions, I want to discuss how we also struggle with accepting care and support. I tend to think I need to know and do everything myself and I find it difficult to be vulnerable. Hyper individualism is a lie to isolate us and make us feel inadequate for not coping with the demands and trauma of capitalism.
Traumatic events have often made me feel unsafe, unworthy and blind to the love and support that is all around me. Do you remember someone offering help and you rejecting that help? How we can support each to feel safe?
In the past 18 months, I have made a slow and conscious effort to engage my senses and feel embodied after being numb in that state of depression and anxiety. I’m grateful to feel and I grieve for all the times I didn’t feel safe enough.
Thank you to 32° East Ugandan Arts Trust, Arts Council England, Moleskine Foundation, Akka Project, Linda Umutesi and FG Foundation.for your supporting our exhibition “Njabala: Holding Space” and my trauma resolution.
📷 @crumanzi
#RestIsResistance #ArtInstallation #UgandanArt #NjabalaFoundation #ArtExhibition #ArtTherapy
