Cultivating Rhythms of Care by Birungi Kawooya and Rebecca Khamala for KLA Art '24 Festival with the kind support of the Makerere Institute of Social Research
8 - 24 August 2024
Cultivating Rhythms of Care: Installation
Cultivating Rhythms of Care is a biophilic installation curated to reflect on the monthly menstrual cycle in relationship to the seasons in nature, supported by a soundscape. It is ordered in three layers that follow the concentric form of the MISR library pavillion. It comprises a woven wall that encloses the space, a veil partition that guides movement through the space, a food and plant display along with questions to initiate conversations and knowledge on local foods, what we learn from the story of Njabala, and how we can care for our bodies throughout the menstrual cycle.
Rebecca weaves an envelope with 100% unwaxed cotton yarn, a variety of plants and plantfibers (including papyrus, shredded papyrus (obukeedo by'otutoogo), trimmed papyrus plants, palm leaves (nsansa), enjulu, trimmed bamboo plants, and dry bamboo leaves) in a continuous loom created with the MISR library pavillion columns. She orders these plants and fibers to create movements that express the essence of the seasons as observed in cultivation, in the menstrual cycle, and in the day as captured in the soundscape.
Birungi works with banana fiber on clay-dyed bark cloth to depict a crescent moon — that speaks to the link of the menstrual cycle to the movement of the moon —and "Njabala" sleeping during her menstrual period, surrounded by a variety of nutritious organic food. She also creates through an experimental weaving of braided sisal rope, raffia and bark cloth, expressions of the rains and their disrupted patterns, the sun rising through the day, the lushness of growing yam and potatoes, and finally the sun setting.
Cultivating Rhythms of Care: Soundscape
The soundscape is six minute forty one seconds (6:41) piece of music that uses the Njabala folk song to create an acoustic environment curated to capture the rhythm of a typical day, using sounds from the natural soundscape to reflect the atmospheric qualities of the different times of day, in relation to the aura of seasons on a macro level. The musical composition features the akogo, flute, guitar, tube fiddle, and vocals, arranged to mirror the emotional landscape of a typical menstrual cycle.
Credits:
Music Direction by Rebecca Khamala and Birungi Kawooya
Music Production by Dustville Records
Music Composition by Isaac Kalema
Akogo, Flute, Guitar, Tube Fiddle & Vocals performed by Aliddeki Brian