Visualising embedded knowledge in indigenous iron artifact designs of the baganda in Uganda through drawings

Abstract

Indigenous iron artifact designs are considered relevant in many communities around the globe due to their connection to traditional knowledge, spiritual beliefs, meanings, aesthetics, functional value and tangible links for technological advancements. Therefore, various societies have exerted efforts in having their indigenous concepts visualized through profiling for revival and posterity. However, this was not the case with the indigenous iron artifact designs of the Baganda in Uganda, irrespective of their unceasing relevance. This study was set out to visualise embedded knowledge in indigenous iron artifact designs of the Baganda in Uganda through drawings for posterity. The study was guided by three objectives: to analyse the historical relevance of Indigenous iron artifact designs of the Baganda in Uganda through interpretive drawings, to assess the extent to which indigenous knowledge of iron artifact designs of the Baganda in Uganda has survived in the contemporary creative space. to extract the embedded knowledge in the indigenous artifact designs of the Baganda in Uganda through analytical design drawings. The study was qualitative and employed an ethnographic research design to capture the production and consumption of indigenous iron artifact designs. The theoretical framework was crafted from three theories: Material culture theory, which was the primary theory supported by Articulation theory and Adoption theory. The study population consisted of blacksmiths, household users, and dealers in trading indigenous iron artifacts of the Baganda from Buddu, Kyaggwe, and Ssese counties of Buganda. Two sampling techniques; purposive and snowball, were used to select a study sample of twenty-seven (27) respondents from the study population. A combination of data collection methods was employed to attain triangulated data, and they consisted of Semi-structured interviews, library and archival search, participant observation, photography, and studio experimentation. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed using a narrative inquiry approach by coding and identifying themes to discuss the aspects of trustworthiness in the collected data, and informing studio explorations. The study findings indicate that the historical relevance of indigenous iron artifact designs in the lives of the Baganda fostered the sustainability of the political, religious, and socio-economic fabric of the Baganda. Although ironworking as an indigenous practice in Buganda experienced setbacks emanating from factors such as colonialism, modern education, religious shift, political insurgencies, and globalization, which were instrumental in the decline of smelting, forging tools, indigenous iron artifact designs minimally survived through oral traditions, improvisation of substitutive materials, continuation of cultural practices, musealisation and adoption of their features into contemporary creative arts and design productions. The study concludes that the indigenous iron artifact designs of the Baganda survive as repositories of embedded knowledge that have been gradually ignored and undervalued by mainstream design and visual culture scholarship. Through rigorous studio-based analysis and theoretical reflection approaches demonstrated in this study, it becomes clear that these iron artifacts incorporate multifaceted knowledge systems; technical functionality, spiritual representation aspects, symbolism, and aesthetics, which deserve immortalization.