In a chaotic, crowded area in Kampala on an uncomfortably warm day, some benches and tables, distinctive in their design beckon the stray pedestrian: step away from everyday tasks for a moment, sit in the shade, play a game of mweso with your fellow idlers. The benches, designed as part of artist and designer Rebecca Khamala’s installation Tuula. Zanya. Wumula. | Sit. Play. Rest, for the Vivid Synergies Residency at Afriart Gallery, in Uganda, are an exploration of placemaking through the introduction of play into public spaces. As Khamala mentions in an official release, the project is a way for her to reflect on the significance of accessible spaces in the city by underscoring how these contribute to the well-being of the locals; taking into consideration people and how they use space.

By introducing the element of play in the work, the multidisciplinary designer also considers the vitality of these acts in urban life. While proposals for inclusive public spaces often consider inclusivity and wellbeing through landscape design or the incorporation of design elements such as benches or kiosks, play plays into the limitless possibilities of a place. Play allows us to create new, unconventional relationships with the world around us and is considered by scholars to be a phenomenon which provides humans with a social structure as well as meaning to our existence. Khamala builds on this notion through her design of the public installation. In a conversation with STIR, she mentions, “The designs are inspired by the cultural, material and social identities of Kampala. While looking into rest and how the predominant users of the selected space performed that, the play was an apparent form of rest.”

The design for the urban furniture developed from Khamala’s interest in how people interact with objects in public spaces and how rest is configured in these spaces. The exploration of rest gains particular relevance in Kampala, where climatic conditions necessitate the incorporation of open and inclusive spaces of rest: urban greens and public parks that can provide refuge. “[My interest] was initially on an individual level and slowly grew into a curiosity for what rest in space could be on a community and public level,” she elaborates, “The more I moved through the city, the more I internalised that tension highlighted by motion, heat and hardly any shade or place to sit. That is how I started to look into the state and history of public spaces in Kampala and how they can be enhanced for active use.”

The benches, described by the African artist as “little pockets of retreat” add to the landscape design of the Railway Gardens along Jinja Road in central Kampala. The furniture designs draw from the cultural traditions of the local community, outlined in their circular forms that draw on the form of traditional three-legged stool designs and are constructed with plant-based, sustainable materials. As Khamala notes, the design installation uses enzibaziba (a reed used in place of rattan given its scarcity), mimwanyi (coffee tree branches), musambya (markhamia) logs; with the curved benches using bibo (raffia palm stalk), mimwanyi and nzibaziba, stools of enzibaziba, mimwanyi and charred blockboard and omweso logs; and a musambya log with mweso pits carved in it.

The use of local materials in the design further gives the objects contextual meaning and relevance; while a pop of vibrant orange draws one’s eyes to the objects. While the installation was part of a now concluded art residency, the multidisciplinary artist hopes it will continue to be used by the locals, given that it enables active engagement with context, reinforcing a sense of place for the locality. This sense of ownership and community is vitally highlighted through these elements of play, central to the design inquiry. Speaking about incorporating board games and designing around how people play, Khamala explains, “[The benches] have circular and curved elements, achieved by rhythmically arranging reeds, to allow for convergence. The designs feature a game station consisting of a log with mweso pits carved in it. Omweso is a traditional game well known around Uganda, having such familiar elements that are culturally relevant naturally activates curiosity and participation within that community.”

The location for the intervention is also significant for this purpose. A bustling precinct with offices and commercial buildings, taxi and boda boda stages and public toilets in the vicinity was strategically delineated by Khamala for the intervention. The public park where the designs were placed was frequented by truck drivers, vendors, idlers and even the police. Food kiosks surrounded the park, but there was no space for people to sit, she goes on to explain. The artist’s intervention thus, alleviated the urban experience of the locals by addressing this need.

Reports from local news sources suggest that in the recent past, public spaces for gathering and meaningful community engagement have dwindled in the East African country’s capital. Through her design, Khamala attempts to draw attention not only to this issue but how spaces and objects can foster social interactions apart from the ordinary amongst people of different ages and from different socio-economic backgrounds.

“The element of play has also increased cooperation and fostered positive social interactions, the kind where vendors are playing with truck drivers, and the police rather than merely sitting under the tree shade like they usually do, joining in on the games too,” she mentions about the reception to her design. This points to how thoughtful design, through simple gestures and contextual elements, can foster cooperation and a sense of attachment to a place. So, why don’t you take a seat and breathe, recuperate from the scorching sun, indulge in a game of mweso with the stranger sitting next to you.