Chilliwa Baskets

Round Chilliwa Baskets
These are now available in 2 handy sizes (medium and large), great for lots of different functions.

Blue	Brown
Lemon Green	Yellow

The Bolivians who craft these baskets live in the village of Calasaya, in the altiplano (high plateau), with a population of around 5000 (180 families). Many families have land and cattle, and sell milk and cheese in the local market. In the last 5 years, many families have increased their herds, and are usually able to sell enough produce to live off the proceeds. Cows are a more secure way of earning money than agriculture.

For those who don't earn money from their cattle, basket weaving is an important support for the family for health care and for education, which is viewed as being very important within the community. Most of the youths in the village complete high school, and more than 50% continue with higher education.

A good number of community members find opportunities in the workshop. Jacinto, the president (shown below left), manages all aspects of the work - product design, receiving orders, organizing the artesans, teaching new artesans, quality control, transporting the goods to La Paz, and payment. Folks can work from home to braid the straw or to sew; the rest of the process is done in Jacinto's workshop. A few people sew the baskets, while others braid the fibers together for the initial stage.

The baskets are crafted by first buying straw in the local market (see photo right) and selecting the best, strongest straw fibers.

Then they dampen and pound the straw to make it more flexible (see photo left). The fibers are braided together - a 50 yard braid takes about 1 day to complete.

The next step is to smooth the braids and then dye them in powder dyes mixed with boiling water. Finally, the braids are smoothed flat in the sun to dry. Depending on the weather, that can take 1-3 days.

The start of most baskets is a spiral, made by sewing the braid together with strong string. (see photo left) The spiral is gradually enlarged using the same process to form the base of the basket. Then another braid is sewn together to form the sides of the basket.

To make the sets of 3 baskets shown above, it takes about 1½ days to complete, plus the time to prepare the fiber beforehand.

Set of 3 Nesting Rectangular Baskets with Ceramic Medallion Decoration $110.00 (Sorry - out of stock)
QU:CHI-CM3 Available in Orange or Turquoise Large: 6.25" high x 16" x 14" Medium: 6" high x 13" x 11" Small: 5" x 10.5" x 9"

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