Zahra Tyebjee is a material designer and a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts in Textiles program at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Zahra is a Fulbright / Azores Regional Government Open Study / Research Award grantee, where she is exploring and documenting Azorean basketry. In collaboration with local artisans, she is learning traditional weaving techniques while mapping the craft’s lifecycle from seed to basket.
«Since arriving on São Miguel Island in the Azores Archipelago, four months ago, I have been able to bring to life my research project on Azorean basketry craft through participation in activities I intended to join from the start to encounters with people and places that I could not have predicted before I arrived. In my free time I have been hiking and exploring the natural beauty of São Miguel Island.
It is currently winter, the harvesting season for willow, a plant commonly used in basket weaving. Basketry artisans, Sr. Alcídio Andrade and Sr. João Andrade have graciously allowed me to document the process of harvesting and preparing the plant. Here on São Miguel Island, the artisans boil the willow branches in thermal pools, a process specific to the natural elements of the volcanic landscape of the Azores. Boiling the willow helps to remove the outer layer of bark from the branches.
(images: Basketry artisan, Sr. Alcídio Andrade, placing freshly harvested willow in the thermal pools on São Miguel Island.)
(image: Sr. João Andrade prunes the willow plants at Furnas Lake Calderas Old Fruit Orchard, São Miguel Island.)
Last month I discovered Furnas Lake Calderas Old Fruit Orchard, an experimental garden growing ancient fruit trees, endemic plants, and a collection of various species of willow. At the orchard, I learned how Azorean willow trees grow differently from species found in England, enriching my understanding of how Azorean basketry craft has adapted to the archipelago’s cultural and natural heritage. I was invited back to the garden this month when the artisans harvested the willow in the orchard.
(image: Extracted leaf sheaths and fibers from Hedychium gardnerianum, an invasive species in the Azores)
The high levels of humidity in the Azores make it like a natural greenhouse. Therefore, many non-native plants thrive here, including the invasive species Hedychium gardnerianum, a plant with optimal natural fiber content. Telmo Eleutério, a sustainable materials researcher at the University of the Azores taught me how to extract the fibers which I intend to use as an alternative material for basket making. It is an intensive process and gives me further appreciation for the time it takes the basketry artisans to harvest and prepare their raw plant materials.»
– Thank you, Zahra, for sharing your amazing project!