NDIZI: Banana Fibre and Sisal Basket
Banana tree bark fibres and local sisal grass create a beautiful colour block effect in these woven baskets, in natural & brown grass. Choose from three useful sizes and use yours as a planter for house plants, a flower pot for indoor succulents, or a large planter for bigger shrubs. NDIZI looks stunning on a nightstand or dressing table, filled with jewellery or scarves, or homing your bathroom products on a shelf. For more ideas, check out our basket uses page HERE.
These natural woven baskets are hand made by a small Kenyan weaving cooperative of around forty ladies who have practised the art of basket weaving from a young age, having been taught by mothers and grandmothers. Sisal grass is sourced ready-rolled when regular orders come in from The Basket Room, and the sisal is hand-dyed under the supervision of the cooperative’s dye manager in large vats of boiling water. Next, the sisal is hung out to dry before an intricate twining method is used to create each individual basket.
Committed as we are to the growth of our partnership with this cooperative helps women to support themselves and their families more sustainably. Most weavers in this group are primarily subsistence farmers, but in the dry seasons this way of life can fail to meet the family’s needs. Buy one of our woven baskets and you actively support these weavers’ livelihoods, and our commitment to empowering women. Each woven basket comes with a thank you card from the weaving cooperative, and you can meet the weavers HERE.
Material: SISAL, BANANA TREE BARK & BRANDED LEATHER TAB
Dimensions:
XS: 14-16CM DIA x 9.5-10.50CM H
SMALL: 19-21CM DIA x 14.5-15.5CM H
MEDIUM: 23-27CM DIA x 19-21CM H
If you need a specific size please let us know prior to placing your order.
Please note, as this is a handmade product, dimensions & colour may vary from those shown in the photographs.
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.
