Hlabisa Basketry

There are six traditional Zulu handwoven baskets, called amaquthu in Zulu, in the Constitutional Court Art Collection (CCAC), woven by three female artists – Angeline Bonisiwe Masuku, Nonhlanhla Nelisiwe Manqele and Laurentia Dlamini – from the Hlabisa district of rural KwaZulu Natal.

In February 2020, the CCAC curatorial team visited Hlabisa with these baskets to learn about the practice of basket weaving from these artists and to document the baskets’ conservation. The team recorded the restoration process by taking photographs, videos and conducting interviews. From this, a short monograph was produced.

A short documentary film on the restoration of these baskets, Weaving Baskets from Stars,
was also produced. Nokukhanya Khumalo, daughter of Masuku and a weaver in her own right, gave the team insight into how a new generation continues the art of basketry making.