Rwandan Peace Basket
This calls for a bit of a history lesson to understand the legacy of these peace baskets. But without going into too many details, the history is about civil war between two major tribes - The Hutus & The Tutsis - in Rwanda. As a result of this civil war almost 70% of the Tutsi Population was gone and of those left most were women. Basket weaving was a tradition passed from mother to daughter traditionally as a symbolism of moving into womanhood. But post the civil war this tradition became a means of economic regeneration and reconciliation among the surviving population. Most baskets are made of sisal grass with a zig-zag pattern symbolizing a journey together, with each other bringing the warring tribes together - hence the modern name of "peace baskets" There is only one piece of each displayed.
Each basket is a unique representation of this journey...as is life.
This lot comes from a group of women associated with The Ihangane Project. It is AIDS an HIV rehabilitation program out of Ruli, Rwanda.