The weavers depend on basket income to sustain themselves beyond what food they grow as subsistence farmers. They often use the money earned to pay school fees for their children.
This group is based in Kampala, Uganda and supports women within the city as well as in nearby villages. Their mission is to support as many marginalized women as possible through the promotion of their handcrafts.
The Batwa people are known as “The Keepers of the Forest” because they have inhabited the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for over 60,000 years. The women who weave these baskets support themselves entirely by their craft.
Weavers take an average of 30 hours to create an 8 inch basket which makes these some of the most labor intensive of all African baskets.
In Rwanda, “the land of a thousand hills”, weavers from many tribes, including the recently warring Hutus and Tutsis, create sisal bowl baskets as symbols of peace, reconciliation, self- reliance and hope.
Nubian refugees in Uganda, Kenya and other countries work hard to preserve their native culture through traditional activities such as basket weaving.
A portion of the proceeds from each basket sold goes to a fund which provides educational opportunities for the girls of Namibia.
The Maasai and Kikiyu people continue a long history as some of the foremost bead workers in Africa. The skills to create beadwork has been passed down through many generations and these cultures are famous throughout the world for their beadwork.
Women of the Bayei and Hambukushu tribal groups painstakingly create this art from ‘mokola’ palm tree fiber coil woven around grass or vine. The bark and roots from 2 different trees are used to make the dye colors, as are decomposing sorghum husks and shrub leaves.
The Shona people have a history of carving in stone that dates back about 1,200 years. Most artists work using simple hand tools and very few have electric tools. The stone is carved using ideas derived from the artists’ imaginations, dreams or family carving styles.