About Baskets4life
Weave – dialogue and interaction
Baskets4life
There are 3 key points:
1. Design and mutual inspiration
We meet in order to experiment and weave with mutual inspiration; ideas are shared and pursued jointly rather than individually.
We want to break down existing standards for the materials that can be used in a basket and how baskets can appear to be so different with both artistic and functional aspects.
We invite artists and craftspeople from other fields, than basketry to challenge and inspire us.
2. Joint exhibitions
We show our craft and art in Denmark as well as internationally. Mostly we approach the exhibitions from assigned dogma concerning materials, techniques and sizes.
Our exhibitions are the results of our companionship, with mutual discussions and experiments. We work upon a joint fascination and contemplation of materials and techniques and then continue the process each of us in our studios. Finally we assemble the exhibition together.
3. Baskets4life in Africa
Alongside the establishment of our group in Denmark our focus on shopping baskets was transmitted into several projects in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Furthermore the group has travelled to Zimbabwe and Zambia in 2016 where we visited and gave workshops to several weaving communities and worked on a lamp and light project with street artists. We have tried to facilitate a better income for the weavers by introducing new weaving techniques and new designs.
Baskets4life help create life in Africa.
History
In 2006 Eva Seidenfaden took the initiative to unite some of the leading basket weavers in Denmark in order to develop shopping baskets. “Get rid of plastic bags – use baskets” was the early project within Baskets4life.
We are a group consisting of 9 craftspeople. Alongside weaving and teaching together, we exhibit and explore together. In recent years some of us have been deeply involved in projects in Africa. These projects combine working with women and basketry, focussing on creating needed income.
It has been an eye opener for us to realize how focus on craft can develop and unite humanity. We believe baskets4life has a lot to offer. We would like to contribute further to the dialogue and interaction that is so important for our sense of responsibility as global citizens and as ambassadors for a trade, which is the oldest in the world.
