Muganda at work. Photo/Isaac Ssejjombwe
Gloria Awori and Maganda Shakul walked away with $6,000 (about Shs22.5m) in funding grant after emerging winners of the Africa Creative Challenge last Saturday afternoon at MoTIV. The two pitched great ideas, originating from the creative disciplines of art, craft and environmental sustainability to beat the other eight teams to the award.
Muganda pitched Street Flash Mob, an idea centric to the transformation of waste materials into new and useful artistic productions. The intervention, which is supposed to run for one year, intends to create awareness on environmental issues and provide communities with ideas, skills, knowledge, tools and resources to convert waste into valuable resources and earn more.
“With the grant, we will focus on empowering youth and adults in Jinja, Gulu, Mbarara, and Kampala by transmitting knowledge and skills from professional artists necessary for effectively managing and repurposing waste materials. Through targeted waste management and recycling workshops facilitated within these areas, our initiative seeks to instill practical waste management techniques while simultaneously fostering creativity, self-confidence, and artistic expression” Maganda said.
Awori’s pitch, on the other hand, was a contemporary jewellery school that offers in-person training in jewellery making (metalsmithing) and design. This will help develop an enthusiastic community of professional jewellery designers and makers in Uganda, whose work can dominate markets both locally and internationally.
She says the funds will be invested in expanding her contemporary jewellery schools to further grow the art community and enhance the adoption of local craftmanship, skilling and domestic jewellery production.
According to Rachel Magoola, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum for Creative Arts and one of the judges, the challenge provided a vital platform for creatives to showcase their unique talents and original concepts.
“Our judging criteria was meticulously designed to identify and reward the most promising creative talents. The winners chosen demonstrated ideas that were highly adaptable, innovative and sustainable. Their concepts were not only novel and imaginative but also practical and capable of being implemented effectively.”
Besides the financial support, Awori and Muganda will gain access to various capacity-building sessions at MoTIV. They will enjoy mentorship, networking opportunities, and venture development tools to give their ideas the best chance to evolve into sustainable and profitable businesses, according to Marie Fordjoe Lead, MoTIV West Africa.
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