The use of plant fibre to make baskets for carrying and storing can be dated back the earliest years of human development. The perishable nature of this material, along with the fact that most baskets served a functional purpose, has meant few traces of these early baskets survive.

Another reason few early examples are found in collections is because early European collectors often overlooked material culture produced for domestic purposes, particularly those made by women. As a result early examples of basket work in museums and galleries are rarer than one might have expected given the fact that they were produced in almost every culture around the globe.

In the wake of the Second World War there was a revived interest in crafts in the West and by the 1970s craft councils were being set up around Australia. In 1981 the American fibre artist Douglas Fuchs spent fourteen months in Australia and his workshops inspired great interest in basket work as an art form in addition to its functional nature. This opened up a fresh sensibility to the practice and new artists emerged from this tradition inspired by the work of traditional basket makers in Australia and overseas. This in turn introduced a new level of understanding about the importance of contemporary and traditional basket work amongst the general populace.

Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator, April 2008

References
Chin, L., and Mashman, V., 'Sarawak; a Cultural Legacy a Living Tradition', Society Atelier Sarawak, Malaysia, 1991
Butcher, M., 'Contemporary International Basketmaking', Merrell Holberton, London, 1999
Parkes, B., (ed), Wovenforms', Australian Centre for Craft and Design, Sydney, 2005

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