I am embarrassed to post the images of the six Ugandan manufactured masks which I received yesterday. Instead, I have posted two designer masks which I received from a distant planet.
The hidden Ugandan masks were delivered to my door by a young man with a Padawan hair cut, wearing tight sweater material leggings. The guy asked me if I had received the government masks.
Like any researcher, I was very curious to have a look at the much publicized masks. I was shocked to my bones when the guy pulled out a bundle of six dull blue coloured pieces of cloth,sewn In form of temporary mouth and nose tailoring and experimental materials.( You remember the type of work which form one tailoring students used to produce in the tailoring class as part of their leisure time in your old school) I immediately made up my mind not to wear these masks but to write about them.
I decided so because, right from my childhood, my natural sense of Art, Fashion and Design never allows me to enjoy collective or majority offers of cheap and low quality uniforms and related items. I would rather put on my coat of many colours which my mama made for me other than wearing some of these things.
On top of this, there are quite a good number of Ugandan artists who have applied a creative design dimension to the private manufacture of masks. Their products are already on the market and they are far better than these pieces of nursing cloth. Furthermore, across the globe, all thinking humans are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of Art and Design in the manufacture of both functional and decorative products including masks.
Therefore, the argument that simple things like masks should not be looked at in terms of quality, design and colour is like using guesswork to fly a plane. I insist that any country which undermines the input and value of Art and Design in all its scientific and technological innovations will always lag behind in those areas. Such countries will always keep importing even the simplest products because, back at home, they do not develop their own skilled labor force after ignoring the creative potential of creative citizens.
Ibanda Joshua 