WASHINGTON May 6, 2023)— On Saturday, May 6, the Uganda Embassy in Washington, DC joined more than fifty embassies for the Embassy Open House dubbed Passport DC, during Around the World Embassy Tour . The cultural exhibition event ran from 10am to 4pm.
Passport DC runs from May 1 through 31 and offers an outstanding array of cultural activities presented at embassy open houses, street festivals, performing arts venues, museums and special receptions throughout the District.
The Uganda Embassy together with the Embassies of Malawi, United Republic of Tanzania and Burkina Faso was hosted at the University of the District of Columbia Students Centre. The University, established in 1851 is one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges in the United States.
This year marked the 18th time that the Uganda Embassy has participated in Passport DC. “We returned with stunning creations that tell a story about sustainable fashion and design, like the Uganda Barkcloth by Jose Hendo and Ssenkulu House of Fashion, Sustainable and ethical Ankole Cowhorn jewelry and décor by the East African Trading Company and Zena, sustainable innovations like Banana Stem hair braids, as well as many items for sale by local vendors, Harkiss Designs and fashion designer Solome Katongole,” said Deputy Head of Mission, Amb. Santa Kinyera at the event. “We have showcased Uganda’s contribution to the world under the theme of Art meets STEM, with a show-stopping 34 foot battleship wire model by Ronald Nnam, and amazing animation and Artificial Intelligence stories by Solomon Jagwe, creator of the Nkoza and Nankya language and story-telling App”, she said
“Washington, DC is a world-class destination for many reasons. With such a high concentration of embassies, locals and tourists have an unparalleled opportunity to experience a wide range of local, national and international traditions from around the globe. I love that we
can benefit from each other for inspiration and creativity in so many ways—art, cuisine, fashion, dance, music and so much more.” said Events DC President and CEO Angie M. Gates, “Events DC’s Around the World Embassy Tour and Passport DC attract nearly 27,000 attendees each year and allow the diplomatic community to highlight the very best of their home countries,”
“This has been an exciting event, I feel appreciated by the Embassy in seeking a collaboration on this commercial platform” said Harriet Zaffoni, proprietor of Harkiss Designs, a Uganda crafts business from New York City.
Washington, DC is a City that appreciates Culture. The residents are not just interested in mass production of merchandise, or the aesthetics of it. They wish to know and appreciate the back story of an item. They are more interested in what makes Barkcloth different or why Cowhorn should be used instead of plastic. We found that they appreciated the sustainability angle to many of our products, because the theme resonated with them”, said Margaret Kafeero, Public Diplomacy Officer at the Embassy. “We are excited about being hosted at a Historically Black College because we have created links through showcasing our shared heritage. There is definitely potential to establish cultural and student exchange programs,” she added.
“We have observed quite a buzz and have been inundated with questions about visiting Uganda and requests for more tourism material as a result of the lessons learned during the exhibition, but also, there were visitors who showed up because they watched the Black Panther and the recent Chimp Empire. They want to visit the Chimpanzees and Gorillas. There is clearly an attraction for visiting Uganda; with the Uganda Airlines promotional videos showing on the screen, many visitors expressed excitement about the possibility of Uganda Airlines future plans to expand into North America. It means that with the elimination of third-country stop-overs Destination Uganda is now a more attractive venture” said Anne Babinaga, Commercial Diplomacy Officer at the Embassy.
Visit https://passportdc.stqry.app to see a full map of participating embassies. Go to https://www.exploreuganda.com/ to learn more about Uganda.
