Art & crafts in Zambia

Zambia as a nation takes pride in its diverse culture which brings with it a wide range of traditional skills. Arts & crafts in Zambia can be found in abundance and among them is its imposing supreme basketry in the whole of Africa.

The survival of most of the crafts people in Zambia is based on cattle, cultivation of crops and fishing. Craft work in Zambia is commonly done seasonally to supplement the incomes of many families. It was originally intended for barter and made according to the needs of other villagers. To many, especially the subsistence farmers, craft work is their only means of earning cash.

Basketry, the most extensively done is practiced by both the men and women. The many forms and raw materials used reflect the environment in which they are made: bamboo, liana vines, roots, reeds, grasses, rushes, papyrus palm leaves, bark and sisal. They are decorated with artistic designs using traditional dyes made from different colored soils, roots, bark and leaves. The variety of uses for basketry is wide; carrying and storage, fishing traps, beer strainers, flour sieves, sleeping and eating mats and a variety of tableware.

Men usually concentrate on woodwork and carving and prominently produce canoes, furniture, walking sticks, utensils and food bowls as well as masks, drums and a variety of animal forms. The potters are usually, though not always women who work the clay and then fire them on open fires or pits. Women tend to specialize in basketry mostly.

However, a large part of the new generation are losing these original traditional skills because of a dwindling demand while others have taken on making more modern items like lampshades, shopping and laundry baskets and furniture. Other commercially manufactured utility items include those made of plastic or tin.
Nonetheless, traditionally made baskets and pots are still popular in the rural and more populated areas.

Luckily there are organizations namely the Moto Moto Museum (Mbala), Tonga Museum (Choma), Nayuma Museum (Mongu) and the Zintu Handicrafts (Lusaka) which have spearheaded the production of quality craftwork both in elementary forms and where craftwork has been taken as a modern expression of art.