The MUBS cultural gala is an annual event and happens at all their campuses. PHOTO/ANDREW KAGGWA
Over the past few years, there has been a growing sense of pride as far as heritage is concerned. From initiatives such as the Kabaka Birthday Run which took place yesterday, Bakiga Nation, Rukundo Egumeho and Luo Festival among others, platforms are being raised and promoted to celebrate cultures and heritage.
On Friday, students at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) came together to celebrate heritage in their annual cultural gala. The gala saw students from different backgrounds present their cultures in aspects of food, dressing, music and dance and above all, presenting and talking about their history and beliefs convincingly. From eastern Uganda to the north, it was interesting listening to the students explain their heritage and what certain outfits mean and represent.
The catch was that all presentations, were especially done in about two minutes. On the sidelines, it was a mixed bag, there were people interacting with others’ cultural outfits and food while many were simply there for a good time and did not care about whatever was happening. University cultural galas are usually a mix of both worlds, much as many try to focus on the cultural aspect and the aesthetics, the mix with the urban population culture at times outweighs the later.
This was not different from the presence of DJs and pop artistes such as Karole Kasita and Fik Fameica to break dancers, DJs and MCs, or the giant ground ludo competition on the side, it was easy to question if the event was still about culture.
Though again, culture is the way of life and it evolves, so almost everything goes. Thus for every Kiganda dance that was performed, there were about three more dancehall routines and breakdance battles on the peripherals. The group from Karamoja had one of the best showcases, talking about their dance, food and still managing to put together a short performance all in three minutes. Their costume continued intriguing those in the audience long after their performance, people stopped their performers to simply take a picture or two.
The performers from the Buganda region had an amazing routine but still benefitted from the home advantage, most people were not only familiar with their sound but even their history. According to the administration at MUBS, the cultural gala was taking place simultaneously at all their other campuses as well.
The one at Nakawa, however, had a twist, with their sponsor Coca Cola using the platform to launch their Share a Coke Ugandan campaign, which was also simultaneously launched in Uganda and Kenya. Later in the night, their brand ambassador and singer Fik Fameica closed the night with an electric performance, of course at that time, it was not about culture, it was about everything else. The night ended with different DJs taking turns on the decks to entertain the audience.
