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Grasses used to make
basketry in Africa vary from place to place. You will find everything
from millet to papyrus. Some grasses such as elephant grass are
used in many parts of Africa. While others are very rare and are
only used in specific regions of certain countries. Differences
in the grasses used changes a lot in a basket. The type of grass
used determines what dyes are used, if any. It will also change
the style itself as some grasses can be woven very tight and others
more loosely.
In order to make
a basket, the grass goes through the following steps: gathering,
drying, splitting, twisting, untwisting, boiling and dyeing before
the actual weaving process takes place. Then the weaving process
begins where the baskets are woven and finished. Each of these steps
is done by hand in the old traditional way.
In all, the process
of gathering, drying, dying, weaving and finishing takes more than
30 hours for a single, medium sized basket. So you can imagine how
long these women spend making those which are complicated or large
in design!
This is when the
ladies use their imagination and create everything from tablemats
to market baskets. You'll also find woven items as varied as change
purses, pencil bags, hanging mobils or even large mats which are
used in the place of rugs. Nothing beats the imagination of the
African woman when she weaves!! |
