The Material Culture of Basketry: Practice, Skill and Embodied Knowledge

At a time when we need, more than ever, to reconnect with each other and our environment, The Material Culture of Basketry is a reminder of how the most simple things can be so meaningful and sophisticated. This exploration of how the process of basketry has influenced our history, culture and global economy is both surprising and fascinating. It is a rich and compelling case for craft skills and material knowledge. -- Rosy Greenlees, Crafts Council, UK The Material Culture of Basketry is a tour de force. The spotlight is on baskets and basket making, but the chapters in this collection are about far more. Taking a boldly interdisciplinary approach, objects and artisanal practices become effective means for authors to probe a vast range of anthropological concerns, including cultural meaning; sociality, well-being and recovery; embodied skill, situated problem solving and the intelligent hand; ecology and place-making; human origins, history and development; and techniques of making that we share with fellow species. The significance of this book is far reaching and will surely be on interest to scholars and craftspeople alike. -- Trevor H J Marchand, SOAS University of London, UK Baskets stand for a fast vanishing connective world. No robot can make a basket. A retired consultant pathologist discusses making basket with brain injury patients in a remarkable interdisciplinary collection is written by diverse contributors - basket makers, mathematicians, ethnographers, and archaeologists. Baskets - threatened by plastic containers of all kinds, their materials harder to access, their rhythmic, complex patterns growing unfamiliar - have much to teach us. The process of making baskets throws light on embodied knowledge, changing global economies and the subtle interactions between humans and plant materials. They are not simply evidence of technique, being also records of social relations. This visionary and sustaining book should be read by anyone concerned for the future of this planet. -- Tanya Harrod, Founder Editor of the Journal of Modern Craft, UK