In celebration of the Black History Month, the Uganda Embassy in Washington celebrated the Uganda Cultural Heritage in an event held at Africa Textile Museum – situated in the New Black Wall Street Market on Stoncrest, Georgia.
During the fest, the Pearl of Africa’s unique national treasure barkcloth was showcased. The cultural heritage harvested from the mutuba tree (ficus natalensis) is 100% organic, biodegradable, and the tree regenerates another bark after every annual harvest. It is one of the best eco-sustainable materials that predates the weaving era, going back more than 700 years.
Barkcloth is also one of Africa’s surviving cultural materials that has been kept alive within some tribes in Uganda, despite the fact that some of Africa’s authentic materials, cultures, and other regalia have been lost.
According to Ugandan Diaspora, the founder of the museum Ms. Ahneva Hilson paid tribute to Africa as the birthplace of fashion.
The textile museum was established in 2020 to curate and preserve African textile history. A Barkcloth installation donated by a Uganda UK designer was also commissioned by the Uganda Embassy at the event.