ABOUT
This brand, founded by two young women, have brought new life to a Rwandese tradition. The calabash (bottle gourd) is commonly used as a drinking vessel for banana beer throughout the countryside. Using a beading technique that originated for the beaded crowns of kings, they have transformed an everyday item into a piece of art.
Relying on the strong equatorial sun to dry the gourds, production is limited by the country’s rainy seasons. As a plant, each gourd is a distinct shape so no two pieces are alike. The brand works directly with a women’s cooperative who hand-string the beads arounds the gourds in a modern take of a traditional geometric pattern. It takes ten days to complete one calabash before they are loaded on the back of a motorbike taxi for transport into the capital.
