Matali Crasset worked with 17 women and a master weaver for a week to create these containers during a workshop named Basket Case II. This was the second workshop that they completed with the aim of developing the emblematic gourd basket shape. The intricate objects are made from closely-knit natural fibers and use Inqwanga for the structure, woven with Ilala palm leaves.
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The Gourd’s Family includes both functional and decorative items including a mirror, a basket and vases with several drooping udder-like compartments. The designer explains his passion for these hand-made crafts, “I love this object as it’s inexact and you feel that one person gave their time and their consideration, basically making one-of-a-kind objects each time.”
The whole project was made possible thanks to the Bulawayo Home Industries, a social scheme financed by the city of Bulawayo to help unemployed women learn a specific craft.
+ Matali Crasset
Via Dezeen
Photos by Matali Crasset
