Okapupa Craft Project

Namibia

Year(s) attended: 2009

Okapupa Craft Project

Bridge for Africa/Okapupa Craft Project

Baskets

Tightly coiled baskets of makalani palm made reddish-brown by a paste of ochre and cow fat, adorned with cowrie shells, leather and metal beads, are used to hold milk by the Himba people of northern Namibia. For thousands of years this semi-nomadic culture has existed in drought-afflicted deserts relying heavily on their cattle for survival. Largely untouched by the influences of western culture, Himba women, covered in simple jewelry, decorative adornments and the same red paste used on their baskets, continue as their ancestors did to make these subtly beautiful baskets for both practical use and social activity.