journal
19 / 03 / 2015
The Gourd’s Family collection appeared from collaboration between designer Matali Crasset and the craftswomen of Bulawayo Home Industries in Zimbabwe. This encounter was provided through the workshop Basket Case, conducted by the French designer.
“I went to Bulawayo in the spring of 2014 and I worked for one week with 17 women organized in five groups around a woman who was an expert in basket-making”, says Matali Crasset. “This was a very humanly-inspirational experience”. The Bulawayo Home Industries is a local entity, financed by the city of Bulawayo, whose major goal is to support unemployed women, offering them the opportunity to learn a new craft.
The workshop consisted in finding new shapes and objects from the locally typical Gourd basket. Crasset stands out the irregularity of the baskets as a reflexion of the crafters creativity, which can adapt their technique to achieve varied results.
The pieces that compose the Gourd Family collection are now exhibited at the Bulawayo National Gallery.
“I went to Bulawayo in the spring of 2014 and I worked for one week with 17 women organized in five groups around a woman who was an expert in basket-making”, says Matali Crasset. “This was a very humanly-inspirational experience”. The Bulawayo Home Industries is a local entity, financed by the city of Bulawayo, whose major goal is to support unemployed women, offering them the opportunity to learn a new craft.
The workshop consisted in finding new shapes and objects from the locally typical Gourd basket. Crasset stands out the irregularity of the baskets as a reflexion of the crafters creativity, which can adapt their technique to achieve varied results.
The pieces that compose the Gourd Family collection are now exhibited at the Bulawayo National Gallery.
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