In Zimbabwe the tradition of basket-weaving has been elevated to an art form at Harare’s National Gallery with the exhibition "The Basket Case: Traditional Meets Contemporary". While the techniques go back many years, the exhibited styles are new.

Rural weavers worked with international designers. These lampshades were designed by Heath Nash, the South African-based curator of the exhibition. “For me, in terms of contemporary design, craft is the most exciting area to be working in," he said.

This exhibit, called the Porcupine, is adapted from a traditional western Ndebele style. It uses a sharp part of the ilala palm, and is woven around an old paint pot and painted.

The exhibition organisers, South Africa’s New Basket Workshop, worked with two communities in north-western Zimbabwe. “Sales from this project have helped to ease a lot of economic pressure in our community,” said Hildegard Mufukare from Lupane.

During Zimbabwe’s long economic crisis, weavers preferred to make simple, functional baskets, and some more intricate stitching patterns and styles were in danger of dying out. This winnowing basket was popular before the decline in tourism.

The skills of basket weaving have been passed on from generation to generation, and the styles are specific to the country’s different regions. The BaTonga women from Binga have a tradition of working with bold patterns...

… Some of the ilala palm is left plain and the rest is coloured with natural dye from roots. Here, a woman weaves around a metal frame to make a table for the Harare exhibition.

The new works like these have already had a good response from buyers in the UK and the US – giving a new lease of life to rural areas which have taken longer to recover from the ravages of hyperinflation.

And the revival of basket-making has also benefited men who are helping by going to collect the ilala palm and water for the women, says Ms Mufukare.