Translating Acholi culture through futuristic wearable arts fashion

How the intersection of arts and fashion can drive community voices in shaping the narratives of tomorrow and be a living archive preserving intangible lost Acholi cultural heritage, is what young Acholi men and women are now up to.

To achieve this big dream, Gulu City will host the first-ever Acholi stitch show, an event showcasing fashion, wearable arts, story-telling, and displaying the rich cultural heritage of the Acholi people.

The show has been organized by Ot-lum Collection and the Intersection of Arts Creatives Designers in Gulu. It will take place on September 13, at Gulu University Main Hall and on September 14 at Elephante Common in Gulu City.

“Threads of Identity: Culture, Fashion, Future-Forward Storytelling” is the theme for the event.

Arthor Owor, Director African Center for Research, revealed that they are unveiling the first of its kind fashion installation modeling to showcase stitches from Acholi-land to galvanize the issue of cultural heritage for sustainability through wearable arts designers.

“Today, we are facing an industry drawn by a calva of arts in Northern rather than theoretical industry that is making Northern Uganda such a unique culture,” Owor revealed.

Owor urged the people of Acholi to make the region see the rise of fashion, and not just the theory of sustainability of fashion.

The show will help in positioning projects not only as creatives but as a cultural movement that merges heritage, sustainability, and future-forward innovation.

Amito Sharon, Director of Tamito Art, said, “We are in a generation where people are failing to pronounce their names properly, and this fashion show will address this challenge.”

“In the Tamito Art Collection, we are bringing back tree species that our elders used to treat and heal patients. This also explains culture and also gives room for young children to draw pictures to explain our culture in their understanding of the past. We lost indigenous tree species,” Amito revealed.

Tamito Art Collection is tailoring clothes that differentiate the culture of Acholi and translate its meanings.

“We are recycling plastic waste, beautifying our home, telling our culture, at the same time preserving the environment, and providing jobs for the youths who are jobless. During the fashion show, we will display the products,” he added.

Moris Odong, Director of Dance Master Academy, said people must start looking deep into themselves to first understand why they have been named and relating it to the way we live in society. Once that reflection is made, he noted we will start doing things according to our culture.

“This answers the question of sustainability and why we (the Acholi people) are so unique in culture.”

Odong added that we need to understand what was before in our culture, link it back, and translate it for tomorrow’s future generation.

Odong further advised the people of Acholi to stop inheriting other cultures which do not depict Acholis’ and appealed to people to embrace their initiative.

The Face of Gulu City, Abalo Tracy Vironika, pledged total support for the upcoming event, saying “for the past month, we have been engaging the local community on the death of our culture, and it’s the right time to rescue Acholi people.”

“We are moving to teach children how to tell stories through painted arts in a way that they will understand better and translate to others in the local context,” Abalo further noted.

Joel Okot Totem of Ot-lum Collection, called for a mindset change on Acholi culture.

“The communal-formal eating of Acholi is dead, many claim they fear food poisoning but even in big hotels now, there is food poison. Let us go back to our communal style of eating. It brings people together as one family,” Okot advised.