Following “Fibreality”: What Does the Making of Bamboo Baskets Tell Us?

Abstract

What is the materiality of a basket woven from bamboo? As a natural “resource,” how does bamboo transform into a “material” for weaving baskets? This article examines these questions broadly by observing the practices of a basket-making community in South India. Basket makers produce fibre for weaving, which is entangled with plant, manual skills, and a specific purpose for its use. Local variety of bamboo transforming into baskets has a long history in the region, lacking archaeological and archival sources to uncover its technological complexities. Although making a basket is an explicit action, artisanal skill that involves design and manual labour, the knowledge application behind the material process is less discussed in the historiography of technology. Ethnographical data and historical narratives reveal that the materiality of the bamboo baskets is an embodiment of “fibreality,” to which human skill and knowledge contribute. Knowledge of the life cycle of bamboo, the season driving the demand for baskets, and the regulations imposed on the harvest of the plants are some of the socio-technical forces that determine and constitute the “fibreality.” The concept reconsiders the procedures of material transformation in crafting practices beyond the notion of laboratory knowledge. This study unveils how material processing techniques are relevant in understanding the materiality and history of a craft as everyday technology.