We provide a chance for the international basketry community to meet. To promote basket making, we organise exhibitions and conferences. Our exhibitions “Let it weave!”, “Viva Basket!”, “Weaves on the wave” and “We weave!” visit festivals in Poland and abroad. We compare the secrets of Polish basketry with those in other countries and we undertake common research trips (e.g. with Norway). We are interested in cultural exchange and in spreading the idea of “live basketry” all over the world.
On the 23rd of August 2015, on the initiative of the World Festival of Wicker and Weaving in Nowy Tomyśl, we organised The Social Face of Basketry International Forum. We invited specialists from all parts of the world and asked them to show how basketry could be developed. Hildigard Mufukare from Zimbabwe spoke about selling African products, Frances Potter from South Africa showed us the backstage of the cooperation of artisans and designers, and Shimul Vyas from India presented one of the best schools for designers: the National Institute of Design. Indrasen Vencatachellum acquainted us with the offer of UNESCO and RIDA, the international group of consultants for crafts development, whereas Sara Ibrahim from Ethiopia took us on a journey across the trail of basketry and sustainable tourism.
Our work resulted in videos and a book. We invited outstanding artists from all around the world to co-create the publication entitled Viva Basket! – Why do we weave? – Lois Walpole, Jette Mellgren, Mary Butcher, Roger Herriset, and Carlos Fontales. We recorded training videos (with English subtitles), in which master basket makers teach you step by step how to weave.
