“If we don’t document our information on culture, it will disappear,” Documentation expert emphasizes

An expert in documentation Gerald Businge Ateenyi has indicated that people have a lot of information on culture but if they fail to document it, it will disappear, “we have so much information in our heads but if we don’t document it, it will disappear anytime”

Gerald Businge (standing) facilitating

Businge who was today Wednesday 22^nd August, 2018 facilitating a training on a topic titled, “Traditional and modern forms of documentation” at Fort Breeze Hotel in Fort Portal described documentation as the capturing, recording and packaging information, knowledge and images on a subject for easy and effective storage and sharing.

The documentation expert who is also a senior lecturer at the Department of Journalism at Makerere university and consultant at Ultimate media consult appealed to people from the Empaako communities use both traditional and modern forms of documentation to save their intangible cultural heritage from extinction.

Some of the traditional forms of documentation are using artifacts, weaving, painting, curving, composition and using human memory among others. The modern forms of documentation are photography, writing books, audio recording, artistic composition and graphics among others.

The Executive Director of Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda Ms. Emily Drani while facilitating the same Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) organized training emphasized that when documenting, its important that people start with origin of the tradition, history of the tradition, type of the tradition, areas where the tradition is practiced and associated myths and beliefs of the tradition.

Ms. Emily Drani adds, “documentation is a process and not a product because knowledge changes, techniques can be different, skills are different, processes change and the trainings are also changing.”

Field tour of participants nd Tooro Botanical Gardens

Tooro Kingdom minister Mr. Mwesige Zebidayo Abbooki who also works on TV West as a comedian indicated that for documentation to be more effective and sustainable, people need to start with documenting their own lineage at the family level, “there is need to focus at the family level before going to a wider community if we want to effectively and sustainably safeguard our culture especially the intangible oral traditions like Empaako from extinction,” Said Zebidayo Mwesige Abbooki.

The conservator incharge of archives at the Department of Museums, monuments at the ministry of Tourism, wildlife and antiquities who was facilitating a topic titled, ”Modern and traditional archiving methods” also appealed to people from the Empaako communities to keep their information on culture so that it can be used by the future generation.

Participants in group work discussions

Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) has already trained book writers, creative writers, professional videographers, professional photographers, visual artists, sculptors, song writers, composers, poets, ritual leaders, herbalists, presenters of cultural programs on electronic media, vernacular teachers and translators among others from the Empaako communities to document their intangible cultural heritage.

The documentation capacity building trainings targets to benefit communitiesamong theBatooro, Banyoro, Banyabindi, Basongora, Batuku, Batagwenda, Banyaruguru and Ba Nya Mboga in Western Uganda and Eastern DR Congo respectively for a UNESCO co-funded project aimed at revitalizing ceremonies and practices associated with Empaako naming system in Uganda.