Zimbabwe Binga Shallow Bowls

Weaving Baskets in Zimbabwe

Binga Baskets

In the early 1960’s, the fertile lands of the baTonga people were permanently buried in water during construction of one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, Lake Kariba, and the people who lived there were forced to relocate to the Binga district.

Many baTonga women utilize traditional weaving techniques to create intricately patterned baskets. All natural and locally harvested materials – such as wild grasses, small vines, and palm leaves dyed with tree bark – make up the baskets. The largest sized bowls are still used by the baTonga people for their original purpose of winnowing grains.

Binga baskets are woven using the over and under style of ‘simple’ weaving in a circular pattern. A 16 inch diameter basket can take around 3 days to complete. The baskets are finished using a coiled rim with a distinctive herringbone pattern.

Masterweave Binga Baskets

The Nambian weavers live a half day’s journey from Binga. These baskets are done in the same style, techniques, and using the same materials as Binga baskets. However, the quality is substantially higher than standard Binga baskets because these weavers use very thin pieces of palm to create the baskets with incredible patterns. Another hallmark of these baskets is that they are often finished with a very intricate grid patterned rim.

Gokwe Baskets

To the East of Binga, weavers in Gokwe use a different technique to create these baskets. First they weave a flat rectangular mat using a straight over and under weave. They then cut a circle and attach a rim. They use an array of vegetable and especially earthen dyes to create more colors than normally seen in Binga baskets.

Chivi Baskets

In Southern Zimbabwe a completely different technique of making lightweight string from sisal and then coil weaving baskets exists in the Chivi district. They use thick, heavy coils and primarily natural earthen dyes to weave these study baskets from local grasses and sisal.

Collecting Baskets

It is a two day bus trip from Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare out to the Binga area – with much of the second day being on dirt roads. 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.