From,
Chilo, the lowest point in Zimbabwe ,
we climb almost 2000 meters on our drive to Chimanimani in the Eastern Highlands
On the side
of the mountain sits the hamlet of Biriwiri, where we have arranged to stop and
see a group of women make something from (almost) nothing. We are given an enthusiastic and traditional
welcome, with singing, dancing and much laughter, before being ushered inside
out of the hot sun.
As our eyes
adjust to the light, we see we’re in a small ‘general store’ selling children's clothes, laundry
soap and other basic essentials, but much of the space is given over to hats,
bags, dolls, doormats and countless other items made from ‘gudza’. To make it,
Muunze (Mountain Acacia) trees are stripped of their bark, which is then boiled in water
until soft. After a thorough pounding using a giant pestle and mortar, the
resulting fibre is rolled by hand into lengths of yarn. Weaving is done by
hand, with no loom, pattern or implement other than the woman’s fingers and an
idea in her head of what she’d like the finished product to be. All dyes are
from locally grown plants and buttons hand cut from small pieces of wood. Oh
and we are told the bark replenishes within a short time, so the process is entirely
sustainable.
We choose a
selection of bags and tablemats to bring back and will be interested to see how
our customers feel about products made from this very unusual material.
No comments:
Post a Comment