Acholi collage
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1998.9.18
Country:
Uganda , [Sudan]
Region:
Masindi District Kibanda County Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement [Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Acholi?
Date Made:
By 1997
Materials:
Plant Fibre , Banana Leaf Plant , Ink
Process:
Glued , Stitched , Collage , Inlaid , Framed
Dimensions:
Max L = 412, W = 315, th = 9.3 mm [RTS 16/11/2004].
Weight:
99.6 g
Other Owners:
Obtained by Tania Kaiser in 1997; sold to PRM on 19th January 1998
Field Collector:
Tania Kaiser
PRM Source:
Tania Kaiser
Acquired:
Purchased 19 January 1998
Collected Date:
1997
Description:
Rectangular picture made from broad strips of banana fibre arranged in two layers.
The strips in the back layer are laid vertically and stitched together along their edges using thin fibre strips.
The strips in the front layer are laid horizontally and are glued on top of this backing.
The two parts are further secured and strengthened by an outer frame, made up of 4 additional strips, one for each edge, folded over the sides and glued down to front and back; these overlap at their corners.
The picture body has started to warp slightly, and the front surface is partially concave.
The front of the picture depicts a village scene, with a backdrop of two huts, one slightly in front of the other, against a skyline of bushes and a single palm tree. A black globular pot sits in front of the right hut. In the foreground are a family group, consisting of a man, dressed in a waist garment or possibly shorts, his arms held out and slightly away from his body, facing a woman wrapped in a piece of cloth that envelops a baby being carried on her back. In her left hand, she holds a stirring stick. Behind her, and slightly in front, is a child, whose sex is not clear. In front of the group is a fire, with a globular pot sitting in the centre.
These images were made by drawing the design onto the fibre background with blue biro, and then cutting out the areas within. Additional pieces of fibre were then marked out in blue biro and cut out to the same shape, before being glued either into these insets, or over the top of the backing. These biro markings may still be seen in places. The background has been left the natural yellow colour of the banana leaf (Pantone 7508C), as have some inlaid elements; however others have been died either brown or black (Pantone black 7C). The darker elements include the background bushes, palm tree, the door of the hut (which is ajar), the pots, the stirring stick, and the skin of the figures. The huts have some colouring, but are a lighter brown overall. The image has been executed with a European sense of perspective. The object is complete and intact, with a weight of 99.6 grams. It has a maximum length of 412 mm, is 315 mm wide and 9.3 mm thick.
Obtained by Tania Kaiser in 1997 and purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum on 19th January 1998. For another picture created in the same style and using the same construction techniques, but more crudely applied, see 1998.9.19. There are some technical differences in the way the two pictures were made; notably, the latter attaches the frame using stitching, rather than glue.
For details of Kaiser's work in Uganda, see: T. Kaiser, 1999, Living in Limbo: Insecurity and the Settlement of Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda (Unpublished PhD); T. Kaiser, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, 44-47; T. Kaiser, 2000, UNHCR's Withdrawal from Kiryandongo: Anatomy of a Handover , New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No. 32, 1, 3.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
The front of the picture depicts a village scene, with a backdrop of two huts, one slightly in front of the other, against a skyline of bushes and a single palm tree. A black globular pot sits in front of the right hut. In the foreground are a family group, consisting of a man, dressed in a waist garment or possibly shorts, his arms held out and slightly away from his body, facing a woman wrapped in a piece of cloth that envelops a baby being carried on her back. In her left hand, she holds a stirring stick. Behind her, and slightly in front, is a child, whose sex is not clear. In front of the group is a fire, with a globular pot sitting in the centre.
These images were made by drawing the design onto the fibre background with blue biro, and then cutting out the areas within. Additional pieces of fibre were then marked out in blue biro and cut out to the same shape, before being glued either into these insets, or over the top of the backing. These biro markings may still be seen in places. The background has been left the natural yellow colour of the banana leaf (Pantone 7508C), as have some inlaid elements; however others have been died either brown or black (Pantone black 7C). The darker elements include the background bushes, palm tree, the door of the hut (which is ajar), the pots, the stirring stick, and the skin of the figures. The huts have some colouring, but are a lighter brown overall. The image has been executed with a European sense of perspective. The object is complete and intact, with a weight of 99.6 grams. It has a maximum length of 412 mm, is 315 mm wide and 9.3 mm thick.
Obtained by Tania Kaiser in 1997 and purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum on 19th January 1998. For another picture created in the same style and using the same construction techniques, but more crudely applied, see 1998.9.19. There are some technical differences in the way the two pictures were made; notably, the latter attaches the frame using stitching, rather than glue.
For details of Kaiser's work in Uganda, see: T. Kaiser, 1999, Living in Limbo: Insecurity and the Settlement of Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda (Unpublished PhD); T. Kaiser, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, 44-47; T. Kaiser, 2000, UNHCR's Withdrawal from Kiryandongo: Anatomy of a Handover , New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No. 32, 1, 3.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Day book entry -
20/1[/98].
D[onation].
MdA.
[donor] TANIA KAISER.
1998.9.
AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINIDI DISTRICT, KIRYANDONGO REFUGEE SETTLEMENT.
Collection of objects collected by donor.
RDF 1998.9: Acquisition Record, dated 19/1/1998, for 'collection of material from Uganda'. Memo dated 21/1/1998 from Jeremy Coote to Julia Cousins, dated 23/1/1998 regarding enclosed invoice for £150 from Tania Kaiser for 'collection of artefacts from Northern Uganda'. This object appears on an attached list as part of item 19: "Banana fibre pictures (collage)". This was purchased by PRM for £6. There is also a typed document on file, titled "Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Masindi District, Uganda. Background to objects collected from a predominantly Sudanese Acholi community in 1997 by Tania Kaiser". The refugee settlement is described as being 14 kms from Kiryandongo town, near Bweyale and Nyakadot. The population is predominantly Acholi, but other groups represented there include Latuko, Madi, Bari and some Zande. There is a small market within the settlement itself, but many people go to the market at nearby Bweyale. Handcrafts tend to be produced individually by woman to use or as gifts, or by women's groups associated with churches or small local development projects, who sell them to members of the community; access to the necessary materials can be a problem [RTS 15/12/2003].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINID DISTRICT; SUDANESE ACHOLI? Banana fibre picture depicting a village scene. Coll. Tania Kaiser, 1997. 1998.9.18 [plastic tag with metal eyelet; loose in bag with object, RTS 17/11/2004].
RDF 1998.9: Acquisition Record, dated 19/1/1998, for 'collection of material from Uganda'. Memo dated 21/1/1998 from Jeremy Coote to Julia Cousins, dated 23/1/1998 regarding enclosed invoice for £150 from Tania Kaiser for 'collection of artefacts from Northern Uganda'. This object appears on an attached list as part of item 19: "Banana fibre pictures (collage)". This was purchased by PRM for £6. There is also a typed document on file, titled "Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Masindi District, Uganda. Background to objects collected from a predominantly Sudanese Acholi community in 1997 by Tania Kaiser". The refugee settlement is described as being 14 kms from Kiryandongo town, near Bweyale and Nyakadot. The population is predominantly Acholi, but other groups represented there include Latuko, Madi, Bari and some Zande. There is a small market within the settlement itself, but many people go to the market at nearby Bweyale. Handcrafts tend to be produced individually by woman to use or as gifts, or by women's groups associated with churches or small local development projects, who sell them to members of the community; access to the necessary materials can be a problem [RTS 15/12/2003].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINID DISTRICT; SUDANESE ACHOLI? Banana fibre picture depicting a village scene. Coll. Tania Kaiser, 1997. 1998.9.18 [plastic tag with metal eyelet; loose in bag with object, RTS 17/11/2004].
