About the Exhibition
For hundreds of years, baskets have been among the most famous of Botswana’s handcrafted utilitarian goods. Now an integral part of the culture these baskets, primarily made by women of the Bayei and Hambukushu tribes who migrated from Angola, have evolved and become more intricately designed. Botswana baskets have a high commercial value and are marketed worldwide, providing much needed income for the women who make them. "Tears of the Giraffe: Basketry of Botswana,” includes highlights from a collection that Frank Merillat and Dr. Sandra Russo have been assembling for the past ten years.
Frank Merillat first became interested in baskets while traveling to Botswana with his wife, Sandra Russo, for her work with the International Center of the University of Florida. During subsequent trips, he began visiting the various cooperatives surrounding the Okavango Delta where the baskets are made, eventually meeting and getting to know several of the basket makers represented in the exhibit. “Tears of the Giraffe” features a wide range of baskets in the Merillat/Russo collection and includes a few contextual photographs and artifacts.
Traditional Symbolic Patterns in Botswana Basketry
A number of symbolic patterns appear in Botswana basketry. Some symbols come from Botswana legends, such as the “Tears of the Giraffe,” which represents the tears and sorrow of the animal before it was killed during a hunt. Others, like “Flight of the Swallow” may represent an omen of good fortune since these birds fly in a triangular pattern before it rains. While some other symbols are derived from observation of how an animal moves, such as “Running Ostrich,” or the patterns of the animal skins, such as “Forehead of the Kudu” and “Forehead of the Zebra”.
You may recognize some of the symbols below in the exhibition. Some baskets may include a combination of more than one symbol.
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May 11 to August 20, 2010
Grinter Gallery
University Galleries
Grinter Hall, University of Florida
fantastic layout kapatid!
ReplyDeletecongrats!!!!! i am so proud of you!
ReplyDeletethese are beautiful!
ReplyDeletewow!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wikee!
ReplyDeleteThe exhibition involved a lot of both mental and physical (like going up the ladder spackling holes, hammering nails, installing vinyl!) effort. I also created an accompanying brochure for the exhibit since we couldn't put a lot of labels. We didn't have information on most of the baskets. I am quite happy with how it turned out!
Yes, they are indeed beautiful! I learned a bit more about the Botswana Basketry tradition while putting the exhibition together. I found it quite interesting because they too use a lot of symbols just like our own pre-colonial culture!
ReplyDeleteThanks, thanks! I realized that it is more challenging to work with this kind of space ( glass cases along the wall) because it limits viewing opportunity for your audience, compared to having a square room where audience can walk around the objects. On the positive side, these glass cases protect the objects from accidents and overly curious viewers who cannot resist the urge to touch objects on exhibit! :)
ReplyDelete