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Zulu Wire Basket

$50.00

Contemporary Zulu wire basket, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The Zulu are the largest tribal group in southern Africa. They have a long and grand tradition of basketwork, of which these wire baskets are just the most recent example. There are many origins suggested for this unusual medium. One is that migrant miners started making baskets with blasting wire in their idle hours. Another is that security guards in the townships would decorate their weapons with telephone wire, either cast-off, or cut down as a form of protest against apartheid. Whatever the case, by the 1980s Zulu artisans (of all genders) were making use of thin, colorful wire to create gorgeous baskets, which became a staple of the tourist trade. Westerners liked the Pop Art aesthetics of the baskets, a more Modernist take on the usual BoHo basket theme. We love the fact that this new medium brought new life to a traditional craft. It's also lovely example of the creative up-cycling of industrial products.

Contemporary Zulu wire basket, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The Zulu are the largest tribal group in southern Africa. They have a long and grand tradition of basketwork, of which these wire baskets are just the most recent example. There are many origins suggested for this unusual medium. One is that migrant miners started making baskets with blasting wire in their idle hours. Another is that security guards in the townships would decorate their weapons with telephone wire, either cast-off, or cut down as a form of protest against apartheid. Whatever the case, by the 1980s Zulu artisans (of all genders) were making use of thin, colorful wire to create gorgeous baskets, which became a staple of the tourist trade. Westerners liked the Pop Art aesthetics of the baskets, a more Modernist take on the usual BoHo basket theme. We love the fact that this new medium brought new life to a traditional craft. It's also lovely example of the creative up-cycling of industrial products.