‘Gate’ Online Exhibition

Luguru or Waluguru are bantu speaking people living in the Uluguru mountains in Morogoro and coastal plains of east-central Tanzania, made up of 52 tribes. Mazi Residency, situated in Choma village, offers a chance for artists to explore the scenic views of the Uluguru mountains, forests and rich culture of its community. 

Davie Masanja, a photographer, was selected for Manzi’s inaugural residency.As part of his residency, he explored a traditional luguru food called “gate” (pronounced “ gah-tey” ) which translates to banana bread. It was famously used as a long-distance travel food by waluguru when they traveled from Morogoro to the Pwani region where they would buy salt. Wrapped in banana leaves, Gate could stay fresh for more than 14 days which earned it another place as a main food during tribal conflicts.

In this exhibition, we will explore a body of photos that explains the process of making Gate. The photos were documented in a span of a week where David lived and interacted with the luguru community.

During his stay we visited homestay families’ farms which are organic farms to harvest bananas, cassava and vegetables. The familiarity taught us how to cook Waluguru cuisine. They still practice organic farming to date as a method to protect and preserve their natural motherland.

The experience was organized by Pius Matunge who is a curator and environmentalist dedicated to telling stories of nature and its people. His passion has been conserving the natural forests. Through this he works with artists, nature enthusiastic, cultural organizations and communities adjacent to reserves to tell stories of forests and educate the general public about the importance of art and nature.