Matembe showcases Ugandan rich culture to Canadians
Rachel Matembe and Allan Kajik during the launch of the exhibition
What you need to know:
The exhibition features thoughtfully curated items from Matembe family’s private collection. These objects connect them to their roots as they go about living and working in Canada.
When Uganda is mentioned in foreign media, it is never about the good things. It is usually about our unfavourable policies, police brutality and the politics. Yet at the end of December, Uganda was receiving positive press in Canada, for the right reasons. At the end of January, Ugandan-Canadian exhibitor, curator and collector, Rachel Matembe opened an exhibition of Uganda’s heritage at the Museum of Surrey in British Colombia, Canada.
She put together an exhibition celebrating Ugandan heritage to show the world and mainly her children what Uganda is about. “You can only pass down what you have preserved. My children were not born in Uganda. But that does not mean they should not know their roots, because our origin is in Uganda,” Matembe told the Canadian website BCIT News.
The exhibition is about connecting the public with the rich, vibrant culture of Uganda. It is about representation and education about new and diverse cultures. It features thoughtfully curated items from Matembe family’s private collection. These objects connect them totheir roots as they go about living and working in Canada. The multimedia exhibition includes collections from Ugandan such as artifacts, cultural clothing, music and traditional beaded jewellery.
But that is not all, the festival manages to be experiential with sounds that one can actually listen to with headsets during a guided tour. Matembe did a good job of not only collecting items Ugandans use, but picking some that are peculiar to Ugandans, for instance gourds, popular in different Ugandan communities for differing purposes.
But that was not all. Her choice of dresses made out of the kikoy, for instance, not necessarily a Ugandan original material, but one that many Ugandans have resonated and connected with for generations stood out. The Museum of Surrey hosts what they call the Community Treasures exhibitions, according to the museum manager Lynn Saffery, community treasures exhibit are personal.
People are sharing their stories and telling their experiences, which means that the public, when they come, can relate right away with the stories that people tell. The exhibitions are usually submission based according to the museum website, Community Treasures exhibits are an opportunity for community groups, individuals, and cultural organisations from Surrey to showcase their treasures and share their stories with a wider audience.
The exhibition opening was helmed by Uganda's Ambassador to Canada, Allan Kajik, acting head of Mission, Uganda High Commission. The Uganda Heritage Exhibit will closed next week on April 27.
The Matembe family immigrated to Canada 20 years ago and now call the City of Surrey, home. As Canadians of Ugandan descent, their heritage is an important part of who they are. Preserving and passing on their culture to the next generation, as well as sharing it with the community that surrounds them is a privilege they do not take lightly. “I'm intentional about representation in the spaces we occupy.
Once the younger generation sees their country of heritage and people that look like them being recognised, being celebrated in the limelight, it shows that there is no limit to what they too, can achieve. Your cultural background is a strength and advantage, not a limitation.”
