From Earth To Basket
To celebrate the precious craft of basket weaving, this one-minute film is a vital chapter in the story of our baskets: their prologue. Come on an immersive journey right back to the earthly beginnings of our baskets - sisal being planted in rural Kenya - and right through the meticulous process, culminating in the finished product. Images in this film show each part of the process in action, evoking the powerful sense of community that comes from weaving together in groups. Sisal plants are bedded in soil. Leaves are handpicked, stripped and rolled using hands and feet. Soot and ash are pounded to make natural dyes whilst elsewhere huge coils of twined sisal are stirred in large vats of boiling water, before being hung to dry outdoors on racks and hooks. Women gather outdoors – some sitting, some standing - as their hands weave almost instinctively, having been taught the craft by their own mothers and grandmothers.