Basketry: A community beyond borders by Basketry NSW

Since Basketry NSW was incorporated in 2012 we have seen the field of Basketry grow exponentially. Basketry has also become an accepted artform in itself with many people taking this craft to greater audiences through teaching workshops, exhibiting, and of course, sharing on social media platforms.

Due to the current COVID-19 climate, Sydney Craft Week 2020 presents us with a unique opportunity to reflect on the changes in our community and celebrate the new ways our craft has enabled our community to cross borders and seas. Many of these changes were occurring anyway but the pandemic has certainly led to a higher demand for digital sharing.

Basketry NSW will have an exploratory theme and questions to share on social media for each of the ten days of Sydney Craft Week. We hope to feature some Instagram live split screen interviews where established makers can share their skills and experience. This will give an opportunity for our members and online Basketmaking community to learn about different topics as well as ask questions and tap into a broader collective of basketmaking knowledge. Original research will be conducted with members and valued elders who don’t access Instagram so that their words can be documented and included. Going forward, we hope to generate ideas to enrich our individual and collective practices. 

We hope that Basketry: A community beyond borders can show some of the ways in which members of a traditional craft guild are adapting to new realities.

Details: Online: digital event with daily posts and interviews during the week

instagram.com/basketrynsw

Online/Digital Project

Change Makers, Fibre arts, Interactive, Sculpture, Sustainable