LESÊLÔ WINNOWING BASKET
[1-3]: LESÊLÔ WINNOWING BASKET[4]: A Madagascan woman winnows rice
[4 🔊]: An excerpt from a 2019 discussion between Gase Kediseng, JoAnn McGregor, Nicola Stylianou, Scobie Lekhuthile and Winani Thebele which took place at the Khama III Memorial Museum about the lesêlô and its transition from useful utensil to wall decoration
[5]: A Botswanan woman tosses lighter chaff out of her lesêlô while winnowing
[6]: A description of a lesêlô from “Basketry in Ngamiland” by Dora Lamprecht
[7-10]: Close-up of the lesêlô referenced in the audio on slide [4]. Note how the basketry is coated in resin/cow dung
[11]: A Botswanan woman holds a tool and the beginnings of a piece of basketry. This is a different weaving technique than that used to create the lesêlôFrom: Botswana 🇧🇼 / South Africa 🇿🇦Source [1-3]: @dinthoobjects
Source [1-3 🔊]: “Winnowing” by Naadan Meme on YouTube
Source [4]: BlackBoxGuild on Shutterstock
Source [4 🔊, 7-10]: The Making African Connections Digital Archive. “Bowl; Winnowing basket; Lesêlô”
Source [5]: Raythephotographer on Shutterstock
Source [6]: Botswana Notes & Records. Volume 8. “Basketry in Ngamiland” by Dora Lamprecht (journals.co.za)
Source [11]: The Making African Connections Digital Archive. “Basket weaving”
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Source notes [1-3]: “We scanned this particular lesêlô at the street edge markets of Marabastad, where it’s mainly used to discard the husk of ground nuts” - @dinthoobjects
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Source notes [4]: “10 29 2023: An older woman cleaning and winnowing rice on a round rattan tray. Ambinanitelo village, Madagascar.”
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Source notes [5]: “Botswana December 24 2022: This shows an African woman winnow it involves throwing the mixture into their air so that the wind blows away the lighter chaff while the heavier grains fall back down.”
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Source notes [7-10]: “Winnowing bowl made from woven plant fibre and coated in a brown substance. Used as an agricultural tool and domestic use. [Royal Pavilion & Museums]”
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Source notes [11]: “This item relates to the craft of basket weaving in Botswana and the objects from Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust's collections made with this technique, including woven hats.”Observations: material awareness, material intelligence, transforming material for both utility and form, ergonomics (thicker, stronger rim).
