The guest list underscored its significance, with Hon. Anthony Wamala, Minister of Culture, and Nnaalinnya Lubuga Agnes Nabaloga in attendance. Many left convinced that this was the beginning of a new era-where bark cloth could shed its stigma and find renewed relevance in daily life.
‘This exhibition was more than a display of clothing; it was a call to action to challenge the stigma around traditional materials and provide an alternative, innovative way of using them,’ Katende affirmed.
At POATE, Katende was not alone. The showcase became a tapestry of Uganda: Gabriel channelled the warrior traditions of the Lango, his garments evoking resilience and ancestral memory. Aminata Mayanja reimagined the Bagisu Imbaluinitiation, her beadwork echoing the rhythm of the Kadodi dance. Sanvra, from Buganda, crafted a refined bark cloth kanzu adorned with cowry shells for continuity and fertility. The Ankole were represented in garments inspired by their long-horned cattle, symbols of dignity and pastoral pride.
Together, the designers created a living cultural map, proving heritage is not static but alive, adaptive, and globally relevant. Katende’s work carries urgency because of its environmental edge. Bark cloth is harvested without cutting the tree, regenerates annually, and requires no chemicals. Banana-fibre textiles recycle agricultural waste into fabric. Raffia and cowry shells carry symbolism as well as beauty, leaving no ecological footprint.
‘These are not just fabrics. They are knowledge systems,’ Katende insists. ‘They remind us of who we are, and they show us a path forward.’ IGC Fashion embodies this ethos. Many of Katende’s pieces travel beyond the runway into museums and galleries, sparking curiosity and education. His self-taught journey, sourcing bark cloth from Masaka and fabrics from Owino, underscores a grassroots process with a global outlook.
At heritage sites like the Kasubi Tombs, bark cloth continues to serve sacred roles. Yet in Katende’s hands, it is also modern, adaptable, and globally resonant. As the lights dimmed at POATE, and as guests left the Woven Worlds exhibition carrying Mutuba seedlings, the message was the same: awakening. Katende’s manifesto stitched in bark cloth urged Uganda-and the world-to see heritage not as relic but as resource, not as past but as future. Gugumuka-Awaken-was not just a costume. It was a declaration, bold and unapologetically African: ‘Awaken to who we are, to what we have, and to the solutions hidden in our heritage.’
In a tourism expo dominated by safaris, wildlife, and landscapes, Ugandan designers reminded audiences that creativity and culture may be the country’s greatest treasures. Fashion, in their hands, became a bridge between past and future, heritage and innovation, art and activism.
And for Katende, The Evolution of Olubugo and Woven Worlds are more than exhibitions. They are manifestos-stitched in bark cloth, rooted in Mutuba, and carrying Uganda’s fashion renaissance into the future.