Lesotho Silkscreens and Block Prints

Abstract

tions is the silkscreens and block prints of the nine-year-old Roma Valley Co-operative Society, and another is the recently developed mohair tapestry-weaving industry.' The products of these new crafts workshops show exciting potential. Local geography and culture are the inspiration for this artistic activity. Located 33 kilometers south of Maseru, the Roma Valley encompasses both mountainous areas and grasslands. Roma, a typical Lesotho community, includes a central town and surrounding villages. The villages are terraced on the sloping hillsides and consist of clusters of circular and rectangular huts built of mud and stone with thatched roofs. Principal dwelling huts face east to catch the morning sun and to avoid the prevailing cold west wind. The villagers are Basotho, a group of approximately one million people who were united in the nineteenth century under the leadership of Moshoeshoe the Great. Most Basotho are Sesotho-speakers. They lead a rural village existence and keep traditional customs, such as chieftaincy, belief in ancestral spirits, initiation schools, and marriage ceremonies that include the payment of a bride-price (bohali). Many of these social customs have been represented in silkscreen prints or block-print designs in the Roma Valley workshop. This activity is new to the Basotho, who have no history of sculpture or painting. It is easy, however, to view the recent development of sophisticated craftwork in Lesotho as a logical outgrowth of the traditional crafts of the women hatand basket-weaving, pottery and house decoration. Familiarity with the ways of village life and with these traditional crafts, especially house decoration, has provided the novice artisans a rich fund of artistic resources.