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Pacific Collection - Vanuatu Baskets

Text based upon material provided by Jeanne Tarisese
Women's Cultural Project Officer of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

Bislama (Vanuatu Lingua franca) texts by Jeanne Tarissese
Women's Cultural Project Officer of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

Basket weaving is a traditional craft and art of Vanuatu. There is a great wealth of basket styles still made today and widely used throughout the islands.

Coconut leaf is the most commonly used material for baskets. In the north of Vanuatu, other materials such split bamboo, pandanus leaf, wild cane and certain vines can also be used.

In the capital, Port Vila, it is common for women to use baskets as handbags or shoulder bags. Women working at the markets can use baskets to store their change

There are many ways to use baskets: in certain northern islands like Pentecost, school children may use a small style of basket to carry their school wrapped root crop lunch. Further north, in the Banks Group, 'basket traps' can be used to catch freshwater prawns or fish. In the southern island of Tanna, women may use a large type of basket to carry fruit and vegetables home from the markets.

Throughout Vanuatu, sturdy baskets can be used to store fruit and vegetables. Finer baskets can be hung from posts or nails to store items as varied as live chickens, food, bibles, sewing supplies, or dried pandanus materials to use in basket weaving. Men's personal baskets can contain tobacco, matches, knives, etc. Certain baskets can be used in special ritual contexts such as bank baskets containing money mats used during traditional marriage payments.

The rich diversity of styles and materials used in Vanuatu basket production has not always been given proper recognition as a highly skilled women's art craft. However, basket making is an ancient art form that ni-Vanuatu (an indigenous inhabitant of Vanuatu) women - and in some areas men - have developed over many centuries. Many distinct styles and techniques have evolved and are evolving throughout the islands.

The Vanuatu Cultural Centre is currently working on an ongoing project to document, collect, exhibit and promote numerous styles and techniques used in basket production. The goal of this exciting project is to recognise, preserve and celebrate this highly evolved artistic expression so distinctive of ni-Vanuatu women.

The production of woven baskets is gaining wider interest both within and without Vanuatu. It is gradually being acknowledged for its commercial potential and as a promotion of Vanuatu handicrafts.

A special exhibition of baskets was held in the National Museum of Vanuatu to coincide with the National Day of Culture and the 6th anniversary of the opening of the new National Museum of Vanuatu building, on 17 November of 2001.

This opening served to highlight and promote women's culture in Vanuatu in the new millennium. It also provided an opportunity to publicise and promote the ongoing work of the Women's Culture Project.

English translations by Kirk Huffman, Honorary Curator, Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

Memorandum of Understanding

Nem: Nohon Belbag
Yus:Hemi basket we man mo woman i karem i go long garen mo fulumap kakae i go insaed long hem. Basket ia oli save yusum tu taem ol famili blong woman we i jes maret i fulumap yam insaed mo woman we i jes mared ia i stanap kolosap taem famili blong man oli pem hem.
Materiel: Lif coconas wetem rop burao
Man we i mekem: Limmath Vere, Toman aelan, Saot Malakula

Basket Name: 'Nohon Belbag' - (English translation)
Description: Basket for carrying garden goods. Also used during bride payment ceremonies where it is filled with yams from the wife's family and stands by the bride as her husband's family pay the bride compensation ('bride price').
Material: coconut leaf and 'burao rope'
Made by: Limmath Vere, Tomman Island, south-west Malakula

Nem:Nakao
Yus: Basket ia hem i blong kasem pijin. Yu putum wan raep pawpaw insaed long hem mo hangem andap long wan branj blong wud mo taem ol pijin oli kam oli go insaed blong kakae powpow ia oli nomo save kamaot.
Materiel: Rop blong bus
Man we i mekem: Cyrus Robert, Not Tanna

Name: 'Nakao'
Description: : Bird trap basket which can be hung from a branch with fruit (eg. ripe pawpaw) placed inside. Constructed so that birds can enter (to eat the fruit) but not exit.
Material: Thin Creeper Vine
Made by: Cyrus Robert, northern Tanna

Name: 'Ketket' (Naüvhal language area)
Description: Basket used only by men for carrying male items; tobacco, matches, knives, etc.
Yaonanen village, interior south-western Tanna
Australian Museum, Acquired 1990

Nem: Ketekete
Yus: Basket ia oli yusum blong putum ol doti insaed mo go sakem. Oli yusum long ol doti raon long haos mo oli yusum tu long doti blong garen.
Materiel: Lif kokonas
Man we i mekem: Roselyne Garae, Saot Ambae

Name: 'Ketekete' (local language)
Description: 'Dustpan' basket for putting rubbish inside to throw away - used in house and garden cleaning.
Materials: Coconut leaf
Made by: Roselyne Garae, south Ambae
Vanuatu Cultural Centre

Nem: Torikrikit
Yus: Blong fulumap kakae we i no tan olsem aelan kabis o lif laplap. Oli save karem i go long garen mo tu karem i go long wan kastom seremoni.
Materiel: Drae lif pandanas
Man we i mekem: Leimoso Albert, Emae, Sheperd Group

Name: 'Torikrikit'
Description: Basket used for carrying uncooked leaf cooking vegetables (eg: 'island cabbage, or banana-type cooking leaves) either from the gardens or to ceremonies.
Material: Dried Pandanus leaf
Made by: Leimoso Albert, Emae Island, Shepherds Group, central Vanuatu

Nem: Tangidi
Yus: Taem hariken i kasem yumi mo kakae i nomo gat, ol man oli go pikimap ol konkon yam long bus, karem i kam mo go staon long riva mo stap sikrasem i go insaed long basket ia. Wota blong riva i ron tru long basket ia mo stap wasemaot konkon blong yam ia. Taem konkon blong yam i ron aot evri wan oli save yusum nao blong mekem laplap blong kakae blong oli kakae.
Materiel: Bun blong grin pandanas
Man we i mekem: Marie Michelle, Laringmat vilej, Is Pentecost

Name: 'Tangidi'
Description: Basket used in hurricane-damaged yam preparation. Rotting yams are scraped and then washed to remove bitterness by placing them in this basket in a river. Once the bitterness has been washed away, the yams can be used for cooking.
Material: Green pandanus leaf rib
Made by: Marie Michelle, Laringmat village, eastern central Pentecost

Nem: Arpot-aful-ten yeyelan
Yus: Ol man we oli go fishing oli yusum basket ia blong putum ol fis blong big sea we oli kasem.
Materiel: Lif kokonas
Man we i mekem: Nelton, Nohorn vilej, Not Ambrym

Name: 'Arpot-aful-ten yeyelan'
Description: Used for storing/carrying big sea (ie. not reef) fish caught during fishing expeditions.
Material: Coconut leaf
Made by: Nelton, Nohorn village north Ambrym

Nem: Tangailumo
Yus: Blong priperem sea-weed insaed. Taem yu karem sea weed i kam, yu putum olgeta i stap insaed mo hangem i stap blong wota blong olgeta i ron aot. Taem we sea weed i drae, i redi blong yu priperem redi blong kakae.
Materiel: Lif pandanas
Man we i mekem: Roselyne Garae, Saot Ambae

Name: 'Tangailumo'
Description: Basket used for preparing seaweed to eat. Wet Fresh seaweed is put inside and the basket hung until the seaweed dries out. Once dry, the seaweed can then be prepared for eating.
Material: Pandanus leaf
Made by: Roselyne Garae, south Ambae

Nem: Wawor vatgav
Yus: I blong putum long graon blong putum ol smolsmol faol insaed long taem we yu karemaot olgeta long mama blong olgeta blong fidim olgeta i kam bigwan. Yu save hangem olgeta long wan branj blong wud.
Materiel: Loa-ken
Man we i mekem: Cynthia Rowon, Gaua, Bankis

Name: 'Wawor vatgav'
Description: Basket placed on the ground or hung from a branch for keeping (and feeding) baby chickens inside.

Material: wild cane
Made by: Cynthia Rowon, Gaua Island, Banks Group

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Copyright © Australian Museum, 2002