South African’s have a tradition of producing and utilising hand made goods.
People in villages far away to the boom of big towns make the main living from craft, by working from their homes and therefore retaining their lifestyle and rich heritage of basket weaving and bead work, which has been passed down through the generations by Zulu crafters, whose modern counterparts today produce stunning works of art, sought after the world over.
Baskets are made using the split leaves of the iLala palm. Soaking the leaves in a natural colourant made from dung or other natural pigments creates patterns.
The patterns advertise the maker of the basket and often incorporate traditional designs.
You will see here the meaning of the patterns:
This is awesome. Think if we could all be as skilled as this! It puts our beaded bracelets to shame...
ReplyDeletehahaha next class project: weaving baskets!!!! This is really fascinating jenny, I never knew the patterns had such significance.
ReplyDeleteI think we would need a week of class time to make a basket in class
ReplyDeleteThat would be awesome to learn how to do!
ReplyDeleteId love to learn how to do this.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have some real African beads!
ReplyDeleteI would love to learn how to make the baskets!
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