This October’s edition of Origin, held at Somerset House, saw the Crafts Council focus on the theme of contemporary basket making and makers. The Crafting Space interactive display entitled ‘Hybrid Basketry’ was designed by artist Shane Waltener. Students from London’s City Lit Creative Basketry course and Camberwell College of Art’s 3D Design BA (Hons) course were on hand to help visitors to de-construct commonly-found domestic basketry objects, and re-weave them to create new forms and shapes.

Various techniques were introduced by the City Lit students, such as weaving, knotting, stitching, plaiting and netting, using traditional materials, such as rush, cane and raffia, as well as strips of recycled plastic bags, newsprint and colourful wool yarns.

Eight leading designers were asked to create a unique piece for the exhibition space, to be shown either in the Somerset House courtyard, on the fabric of the Origin pavilion itself, or set in special niches within the fair. These included Laura Ellen Bacon’s two organic structures, reminiscent of bird’s nests, that perched precariously atop the pavilion. Made from six foot tall Somerset willow, the two pieces, are called Emergent Form.

Elizabeth Murton’s work explores the links between woven structures and architecture, creating similar patterns, although on different scales and in different materials. Traditionally baskets were made from materials that were available locally. Here, rolled newspaper, fixed with rice glue, is used, due to its abundance in the urban environment. This abstract form that explores the pattern and repetition in basketry construction.

Kazuhito Takadoi designed an abstract circular form using materials collected directly from nature; a weaving together of slim saplings of wood creating a mysterious light and shadow effect.

Lois Walpole’s installation addressed the question ‘when is a basket not a basket?’ in response to the fact that many contemporary basketmakers make houses, boats, clothing, jewellery, furniture, sculpture and much more with their skills. Lois’s Cork Piece basket was created using a vast number of used wine corks.

Laura Street ‘s installation featured the basketry techniques of plaiting, mainly with newspapers, maps and music manuscripts. Some of the woven pieces were coated in paperclay, then fired in a kiln. What are left are the traces of the orginal weaving -the remains. Reminiscent of fossils, they are displayed in old containers and everyday discarded items – a comment on the way museums preserve and store certain objects.

Lee Dalby, created a structure entitled Basket Walk, in bamboo and recycled inner tubing to form a natural arch or gazebo along one side of the courtyard of Somerset House.

In addition, Shuna Rendel,’s work Flexible Form 2 used traditional utilitarian craft to create new forms, in this case based on Peruvian sling braids. Dail Behennah used monofilament fishing line to create barely visible cubes and columns that were arranged to suggest an urban landscape or cellular structure.

Crafts Council
Shane Waltener
City Lit Creative Basketry
Camberwell College of Art: 3D Design BA (Hons) course
Elizabeth Murton
Kazuhito Takadoi
Lois Walpole

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