Ayo: Ikoce Volume I

Ikoce: Volume I forms part of a larger research project investigating the archival capacity of unofficial bodies in preserving intangible cultural heritage. The title is borrowed from the cultural practice of Ikoce; which historically functioned as entertainment, social commentary and cultural emblem for Lango society in Northern Uganda.

In a speculative mode of address, the project looks into Ikoce’s organisation, performance attire and oral poetry; proposing its formation as a transgressive act of resistance against the heavy drafting of Lango men into the King’s African Rifles; to fight for the British Empire during World War II.

In Ikoce: Volume I, Ayo employs an experimental montage and narration to collapse the boundaries of fact and fiction while attempting to humorously tap into the memory and riddle of Ikoce among residents of a small nondescript town in Northern Uganda.