Crafty Fever

PHOTOS Rob Duker MODEL David Thompson WORDS Debbie Loots

A new range of baskets is being produced in Mqatsheni, a rural village in the Drakensberg.

Expertly handmade by Zulu crafters, and guided in design and development by product designer Josef Greeff, the Mountain Fever basketry project forms part of KwaZulu-Natal’s One Village One Product initiative.

Josef is an old hand at lending help to crafters and has, under the auspices of German enterprise GIZ, also assisted in neighbouring countries like Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Namibia. This, his latest project, involves 25 crafters – young and old, men and women, some disabled – who get to experience skills upgrading and design guidance from Josef in an effort to push basketry to the next level.

Made from ukhasi, a special fine grass harvested in the mountains, the baskets are coloured in traditional pots on open fires using dye specially imported from Germany. Some are also spray-painted with a food-safe paint. The clay disks in the centre of each basket, inspired by a Zulu earplug, are handmade by the Nala family of KwaZulu-Natal, world-renowned for their ceramics.

With all this crafty business going down in KZN, Mountain Fever is sure to spread quickly – a bit like wild fire.

From R800, available through Khulile Mavundla, 082 712 8702
greeffdesign@mweb.co.za