HAPA: Dusky Pink Colour Block Lidded Laundry Basket
Meticulously hand woven, the HAPA lidded laundry basket boasts a raspberry pink and white colour block design, made from tightly woven, hand-dyed doum palm leaf. This collection comes in three sizes.
These beautiful and practical laundry baskets with lids have travelled from the shores of the Jade Sea on a journey of sustainable craft and ethical production. Each laundry basket in this very special collection is made by a weaver living on the shores of Lake Turkana in North West Kenya. This region is part of the renowned ‘Cradle of Mankind’, where some of the earliest evidence of human evolution has been found. It’s also an area notorious for its severe drought, which this arid land and its people have endured since the eighties.
Due to long term marginalisation, poor infrastructure and little integration with the wider Kenyan economy, many Turkana people live in relative poverty. In 1992, a Catholic charity started up a basketry craft project to help support the livelihoods of women in a number of settlements along Lake Turkana - and today 300 women from six local villages weave baskets as a means of income.
For many of these weavers, this work is the difference between putting food on the table, and relying on emergency relief. For this craft group to gain wider access to market – through increased basket orders from The Basket Room – means sustainable livelihoods and the growth of the Turkana economy.
Material: DOUM PALM LEAF
Dimensions:
S: H: 40-44cm | Dia: 40-44cm
M: H: 45-49cm | Dia: 45-49cm
L: H: 50-55cm | Dia: 50-55cm
Please note, as this is a handmade product, dimensions & colour may vary from those shown in the photographs.
FAIR TRADE & HANDMADE IN KENYA
Our journey into sustainable style began in Kenya, and the lion’s share of our woven baskets are Kenyan-made. Whilst every region of Kenya boasts its own rich natural bounty, each cooperative we partner with offers expertise in its own unique form of basketry. Weaving, dyeing and grass-rolling techniques differ across the regions as much as basket shapes, patterns and structures. These precious crafts are woven through the generations within families - passed along continuous thread from mother to daughter - protecting and preserving an art form as old as man.
Vast and colourful, vibrant and bursting with natural beauty and style, our fair trade baskets are as eclectic as their homeland and its people. From sisal grass to doum palm, banana leaf fibres to palm leaf, each weaving cooperative works with what is locally available and only what can be sustainably sourced, to produce beautiful baskets which are 100% Kenyan made, and ethically produced. All cow hide bag tags, straps, and basket labels are made from leather sourced as a by-product of the food industry. Natural dyes come from pounded roots, bark and vegetables of the region, whilst all synthetic dyes are sustainably sourced.
From the Kamba tribe to the camel-herding Ariaal pastoralists of Northern Kenya, you can read more about the lives of the Kenyan weavers we work with - and the wonderful baskets they produce - below.
Meet The Artisans
Who Made Your Basket?
United StatesSuch beauty in a practical basket
Really love this beautiful basket! The color & quality are just perfect and it's a great size for so many storage purposes
The Basket Room
Thank you for your lovely review! We are glad to hear you are happy with your purchase. Thanks for shopping with us at The Basket Room
