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NewsDay

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Binga craft makers bemoan low business

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BINGA Craft Centre manager Matabbeki Mudenda has bemoaned the lack of markets for craft makers in the resort outpost, which he said has seen people quitting the trade as it could no longer sustain their families.

BINGA Craft Centre manager Matabbeki Mudenda has bemoaned the lack of markets for craft makers in the resort outpost, which he said has seen people quitting the trade as it could no longer sustain their families.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Arts Capsule event in Harare on Wednesday, Mudenda said basket weaving was one of the major sources of livelihoods for residents of Binga in Matabeleland North from as far back as the 19th century.

“In Binga we mainly thrive on craft work for a livelihood, but lack of appreciation of the art by locals has negatively affected many families that have been earning a living through different craft works,” Mudenda said.

“We are in need of viable and sustainable local and international markets because we survive through our artistic talent, but due to lack of markets, we are forced to undervalue our products and sell them to bogus buyers who then fetch more when they resale them abroad.”

Mudenda called on government to support basket weaving as it had the potential to promote the development of the creative arts, while providing a source of income for people in rural Binga and could be exported to other countries.

“The Binga community has developed innovative designs that have enhanced the technical mastery of basket weaving craft with the potential to improve the country’s gross domestic product, but we are lacking the much needed support,” he said.

“Government must help us secure funds to take our products abroad as it is expensive for weavers to take their merchandise to international markets in bulk.”

Commercial development of basket weaving materials has been gaining traction in Zimbabwe in recent years, following collaborations with The New Basket Workshop, the first Basket Case exhibition developed in collaboration with Cape Town-based Zimbabwean designer Heath Nash, Kingston University’s Project Kingston Africa, and the India National Institute of Design workshops.