1. Program copy
Sweetgrass Basket Artistry
By Lynn Zeide
The craft of making coiled baskets journeyed from Africa to South Carolina more than 300 years ago.
This exhibit: “Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art” takes you on that journey.
Originally known as “fanner” baskets, they became an essential tool in the cultivation of rice on Southern
plantations.
Weavers find the perennial sweetgrass they need to make the baskets in sandy soil around ocean dunes
and marshes. They pull it up from the roots, bundle it, and lay it in the sun for several days to dry.
When the sweetgrass is ready, the basket weavers use the West African method of coiling instead of
traditional weaving to create the form and design of the basket.
With a “sewing bone”, which is often a sharpened metal spoon, the basket makers shape the coils in
circles. Wispy strands of saw palmetto leaves are sewn into the coils to hold them together. Bulrush and
pine needles are added for stability and decoration. It can take from 12 hours up to several months to
finish a basket.
This South Carolina Lowcountry art form is passed down from generation to generation. Authentic
sweetgrass baskets are sold in the state at roadside stands along Highway 17 North in Mt. Pleasant, in
Charleston’s City Market and Broad Street, and on the Carolina Sea Islands.
Over 200 objects including exquisitely woven baskets from African and the American South are featured
in the exhibit. In addition to baskets, you will see paintings, sculptures, agricultural implements, historic
documents and a new film, “Grass Roots: The Enduring Art of the Lowcountry Basket,” by acclaimed
filmmaker Dana Sardet.