BASKET WITH MULTI-USE CARRY STRAP
[1,2]: BASKET WITH MULTI-USE CARRY STRAP
[3,4]: Illustrated 19th cent. engravings of women with these fluted baskets and long straps designed specifically for head carrying, in present-day DRC
[5]: A woman carries her basket with the strap braced against her chest instead. Her basket shows modular loops within the weaving for adjusting the height of the strap
[6]: Archival photo from a missionary showing a woman smoking a pipe with a similar, smaller basket and strap for forehead carrying
[7]: A woman uses her hands to support the strap on her head as well as the baby catching a ride on her neck
[8]: A woman carries her basket, full of chopped wood and her machete, with the strap on her head. She also carries a child in her arms while another follows close behind (Republic of Congo 🇨🇬)From: Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩Source [1,2]: Katya Tsvetkova on Alamy
Source [3,4]: “The Congo and the Founding of its Free State. A Story of Work and Exploration”, by Henry M. Stanley. Engraving by W. Meyer. Viewed on @internetarchive
Source [5]: Universal Images Group North America LLC on Alamy
Source [6]: @uscedu Digital Library: International Mission Photography Archive, CA.1860-CA.1960
Source [7]: Julie Edwards on Alamy
Source [8]: Mike Goldwater on Alamy
Source notes [1,2]: 🇨🇩 Bukavu, DRC
Source notes [7]: 🇨🇩 “26/01/2012: Women carry heavy goods on their heads at a camp for displaced people in Masisi, Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Source notes [8]: 🇨🇬 “Congo-Brazzaville, 27th Sept 2012: A Bata (pigmy) woman walks home along a forest track with her two children carrying a full load of firewood in her large woven basket whose weight she is holding on her forehead and back, north west Congo”
Observations:
survival and continuity of design, of an intentional typology and of user behavior, functional ornament, material awareness, material intelligence, creating visual interest, unity of material, visual contrast, formal contrast, design for user behavior.