Upcycling Glass, Uplifting a Community
Bracelets from Ekilawuli Studio on display at their first Glass Market.
In March 2020, just before the world closed down, I was given a tour of Afrika Art Kollective’s community art studio, Ekilawuli, located in Kyebando, Kampala. This creative space is in a pre-urban area of Kampala where jobs are scarce and community services are limited. Guided by the vision of the creative director, Gisa Brian, and a team of community leaders, the studio provides workshops in hot and cold glass recycling techniques where members learn skills suited to generating income with their art.
After this inspiring introduction to AAK, I assisted Gisa with a crowd funding campaign to help expand the studio to provide additional space for new equipment and larger workshops. This campaign was a success, the studio expansion was completed in September and as COVID restrictions finally eased somewhat over the winter, AAK was able to resume their workshops.
I had the chance to visit again this spring and loved spending my days at the studio, swept up in the creative energy and community that AAK has fostered. The studio gathers discarded glass bottles found in abundance in Kampala and transforms them into a range of beautiful home goods such as drinking glasses, vases, planters, wind chimes, and lighting fixtures. The leftover glass from these products goes into the furnace and emerges, one by one, as hand-forged beads in a mouth-watering array of colors and shapes. Ekilawuli also held its first Glass Market, a huge success, showcasing its art and its mission to the city and announcing Kyebando as a viable economic, artistic and cultural partner to the rest of Kampala.
The jewelry lover in me, weak in the face of all this temptation, returned home with a bag full of glass a heart full of inspiration to support the work being done at AAK. Check out my designs in our shop and adorn yourself while supporting these joyful and determined artists.
