Prep School pupils create Zulu bowls

PUBLISHED 03 March 2022

Pupils in Year 2 have been looking at bowls that are known by the Zulu people as Isiquabetho baskets.
The Isiquabetho basket/bowl is a large basin-shaped basket, traditionally used for gathering and carrying grain. The Zulu Isiquabetho grass bowl is often watertight and all the colours are natural, made by boiling roots, leaves and berries.

The patterns on the bowls symbolize different things. Triangle for men or boys. Diamond for women or girls. Double triangle forming hour-glass shape for married man. Double diamond for Married woman and many other patterns represents the Zulu tribe.

Every Zulu basket is made by hand, they can take more than 1 month to make a medium size basket that will be unique in size, pattern, shape, weave and colour.

The children made their own bowls using papier-mache and paint. They cut paper shapes to decorate their work in patterns and colours the Zulus of South Africa might have used. PUBLISHED: 03 March 2022