Dewe School of Art & The Old Sweet Shop

A very noble and interesting collaboration is happening between The Old Sweet Shop (Sheffield) and Dewe School of Art (Uganda), Full details below. Get involved and make a difference!

Here is a link to the video about Sserwanga Ben, a wood carver who learnt his skills at Dewe School of Art:

Dewe School of Art – Wood Carving

The Old Sweet Shop supporting The Dewe School of Art, Uganda.

From now until the end of August 2010.

The Old Sweet Shop in Sheffield has teamed up with local resident Laurence Alexander to show new work that has been created at The Dewe School of Art in Uganda. The project in Uganda was founded by Sam Mukumba, an artist who teaches clay work and sculpture at Ruskin Mill College, which our own Freeman College here in Sheffield is a part of. The work showing includes; wood carvings, baskets, bark cloth products, purses, weaved trays and bags.

All the produce is made at the project in the village of Dewe, Uganda, to help provide education and training to the people in the local community. Many people in the area leave school early, mainly due to not being able to afford school fees. Also, being a fishing village, many are living on subsistence income and can not afford to send their children to school either. The School of Art gives people a chance to learn a new skill and creates possibilities for them that would otherwise not exist.

Laurence recently spent a month at the school as part of a volunteering scheme. He is also the Sheffield co-coordinator for the project.

Here is Laurence’s blog and picture gallery from his work in Dewe and his trip there:

http://goingtodewe.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/kulikayo

Many of the products are made by the Dewe Women’s Empowerment Group. The group meets regularly at the project to learn new skills and continue practising those they’ve learnt. They weave trays, purses, baskets and many other things, using the banana and palm leaves which grow on the plantation.

Sustainable and natural materials are used to produce various arts and crafts such as mahogany, jacaranda, banana and palm leaves and bark cloth. The bark cloth products are unique to Uganda, Uganda being one of the only places in the world that it is made. Bark cloth is made by removing the bark from a fig tree, beating it with a mallet and leaving it in the sun for several days.

Sserwanga Ben has developed his skills at the project through the help of other volunteers and teachers. He uses the project as a workshop and also helps with its day to day running. Woods such as mahogany and jacaranda both grow locally to the project. You will actually see some of the things in the video being made in Uganda which will be available to buy here at The Old Sweet Shop in Sheffield!

Please see the website for further information on the school and the type of work that it does for its community. Or, if you would be interested in visiting or volunteering at the Dewe School of Art then please visit the contact page on the website:

http://www.deweschoolofart.com/Our%20Story.html

The work is on show in the window of The Old Sweet Shop from now until the end of August. The money made by the artists from sales will go directly back to them and ensure that the school continues to carry out its important work within the community.