Germans Eye Bark Clothing
MANY Mercedes Benz interior fittings and seat covers in Germany are increasingly being worked with locally sourced bark cloth.
By Macrines Nyapendi
MANY Mercedes Benz interior fittings and seat covers in Germany are increasingly being worked with locally sourced bark cloth.
Bark Cloth (Uganda) Limited a Ugandan-German business venture are currently holding a joint exhibition with Kwetu Afrika Gallery at the Uganda Museum to market the organic material.
Oliver Heintz, the Bark Cloth Uganda owner, said demand in Europe has surged especially in the wake of the Mad Cow disease which adversely affected the leather market.
However Heintz said last week the process of turning ordinary bark cloth into leather fabric in different colours and barktex is a family’s secret.
The company is also show-casing improved bark leather and ordinary designs by Sanaa Gateja, a Ugandan artist.
Gateja has worked with Bark Cloth Germany for 25 years and his bark cloth paintings are well known in Uganda and around the world.
Bark cloth is being used for wall hanging interior panelling and other accessories.
Heintz has invested $250,000 (about sh500m) in Uganda to push the venture forward. Most of the money has gone direct to the peasants who are attached to the company in the districts of Masaka and Rakai.
“We have exported thousands of bark cloth pieces since the inception of this company here. The company has also trained rural people on how to make and handle barkcloth,†Heintz said.
Bark cloth is made from a genuine Uganda plant fibre fig without any substitution material worldwide. Bark cloth is got from a common wild fig tree (Ficus Natalensis).
Heintz defines bark cloth as the most ancient plant fabric.
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MANY Mercedes Benz interior fittings and seat covers in Germany are increasingly being worked with locally sourced bark cloth.
Bark Cloth (Uganda) Limited a Ugandan-German business venture are currently holding a joint exhibition with Kwetu Afrika Gallery at the Uganda Museum to market the organic material.
Oliver Heintz, the Bark Cloth Uganda owner, said demand in Europe has surged especially in the wake of the Mad Cow disease which adversely affected the leather market.
However Heintz said last week the process of turning ordinary bark cloth into leather fabric in different colours and barktex is a family’s secret.
The company is also show-casing improved bark leather and ordinary designs by Sanaa Gateja, a Ugandan artist.
Gateja has worked with Bark Cloth Germany for 25 years and his bark cloth paintings are well known in Uganda and around the world.
Bark cloth is being used for wall hanging interior panelling and other accessories.
Heintz has invested $250,000 (about sh500m) in Uganda to push the venture forward. Most of the money has gone direct to the peasants who are attached to the company in the districts of Masaka and Rakai.
“We have exported thousands of bark cloth pieces since the inception of this company here. The company has also trained rural people on how to make and handle barkcloth,†Heintz said.
Bark cloth is made from a genuine Uganda plant fibre fig without any substitution material worldwide. Bark cloth is got from a common wild fig tree (Ficus Natalensis).
Heintz defines bark cloth as the most ancient plant fabric.
Ends