East Africa · Uganda

Ugandan

Buganda royal tradition, barkcloth and the Nile landscape, carried into contemporary East African painting.

River Journey by Marjory Yeko Jewitt
On the cover: River Journey · Marjory Yeko Jewitt
Works
5
Artists
1
Shop this heritageCultural Passport
Homeland
Uganda, East Africa
Languages
Luganda, English, Swahili and many more
Landmark
The source of the Nile at Jinja
Known for
Barkcloth, basketry, Makerere painting

The tradition

About Ugandan

Uganda brings together many peoples, among them the Baganda, whose kingdom of Buganda lies on the northern shore of Lake Victoria.

Barkcloth, beaten from the inner bark of the mutuba tree, is one of the world's oldest textiles. UNESCO lists Ugandan barkcloth making as intangible heritage.

Makerere University's art school, founded in Kampala in 1937, carried that heritage into painting. The ink drawings here follow women, rivers and offerings.

Under My Sun
Under My Sun · Marjory Yeko Jewitt

Visual language

Motifs to look for

Symbols and forms that recur across this tradition, and that artists here draw on.

  1. Barkcloth

    Beaten mutuba bark, worn at coronations and funerals.

  2. The Nile

    The river leaves Lake Victoria at Jinja on its journey north.

  3. Royal drums

    The drums of Buganda, regalia that announce the Kabaka.

  4. Gomesi

    The floor-length dress with square, puffed shoulders.

  5. Basketry

    Coiled baskets and mats, patterned with natural dyes.

  6. Kwanjula

    The introduction ceremony, where families meet and gifts are given.

Look closer

The tradition in the work

What to look for, in each work's Cultural Passport.

Offerings

Marjory Yeko Jewitt

  • Hand lifting a vesselthe offering itself, given with respect
  • Serpent with a human facea spirit presence in the sky
  • Women dancing, drumming, carryingdevotion as everyday community life

Source

Marjory Yeko Jewitt

  • Cowriesrows of shells built into the face
  • The night-sky panela landscape held inside the mask
  • Open eyesthe mask looking out as the gods look in

Village Girl

Marjory Yeko Jewitt

  • Pot on the headeveryday labour that sustains a household
  • Body and land in one linethe girl belongs to her place
  • Crown of spiral hairher own pattern within the landscape

The collection

The works

Shop all 5 works
Dense black-and-white line drawing of a young woman with spiral-patterned hair and a decorated pot on her head, beside a tall staff, in a landscape of hills and fields drawn in flowing parallel lines.
COLL. 30/30

Curator's Note

Yeko builds sky, hills and girl from one rhythm of strokes, until it is hard to tell where the young woman ends and the earth begins.

Ugandan

Village Girl

Marjory Yeko JewittMarjory Y. J.

From$250· Collector Edition· Coll. Ed.

Black-and-white illustration of a pregnant woman with eyes closed, one arm raised to balance a tall patterned vessel on her head, large flowers and a small bird beside her, on a black ground.
STU. 60/60

Curator's Note

Yeko calls her son her Sun, and this is a picture of carrying one. A pregnant woman balances a tall patterned vessel on her head, eyes clos…

Ugandan

Under My Sun

Marjory Yeko JewittMarjory Y. J.

From$55· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

Black and white ink drawing of a mask-like face in profile filled with dense pattern: cowrie shells, eyes, waves and a panel of night sky with a moon over mountains.
STU. 60/60

Curator's Note

For Yeko, the mask is where a people and their gods meet. Source draws a face in profile built entirely from pattern, cowries, eyes and wav…

Ugandan

Source

Marjory Yeko JewittMarjory Y. J.

From$55· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

Black ink line drawing of a tall woman in a headwrap and long garment holding a staff, walking through water patterned with circles, with mountains, a field of crops, a wavy sky and a round moon.
LTD. 15/15

Curator's Note

Yeko calls it a spiritual journey of self discovery and growth. Her tall, unhurried woman walks through water drawn as a field of circles. …

Ugandan

River Journey

Marjory Yeko JewittMarjory Y. J.

From$450· Limited Edition· Ltd. Ed.

Dense black-and-white illustration of a large face with closed eyes, a hand holding a small vessel, a serpent with a face, a many-faced figure, and women dancing, drumming and carrying below.
STU. 59/60

Curator's Note

The most crowded of Yeko's pictures, and the most devotional. There is a great face with closed eyes, a hand lifting a small vessel, women …

Ugandan

Offerings

Marjory Yeko JewittMarjory Y. J.

From$55· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

See all 5 works

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Named creators

The artists

All artists
Artwork by Marjory Yeko JewittUgandan
Marjory Yeko Jewitt

Marjory Yeko Jewitt

Kampala, Uganda · 5 works

Marjory Yeko Jewitt, who works as Yeko, is a Ugandan illustrator based in Kampala. She draws in bold black and white, with a dense, rhyth...

View Artist

Questions

Good to know

What is Ugandan barkcloth?

Barkcloth is made by beating the inner bark of the mutuba tree into a soft cloth. The Baganda have made it for centuries, and UNESCO recognises the craft.

Who are the Baganda?

The Baganda are Uganda's largest ethnic group. Their kingdom, Buganda, is led by the Kabaka, and the capital Kampala lies within it.

What is a gomesi?

The gomesi, or busuuti, is a floor-length dress with square, puffed shoulders and a sash. Women wear it for formal and ceremonial occasions.

Cultural Passport

Every work comes with its story, documented.

The tradition, the artist and the story behind the work, on a digital Passport you can print and frame beside it.

How it works

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