Artisan Hand weaving
THE RFB JOURNAL

Field Notes

On craft, provenance, and living with handwoven art.

Every piece in the shop is the result of months of skilled work in a specific place — by a named artisan, using techniques passed across generations. This journal is where that context lives. Notes from visits to artisan communities, practical guidance on displaying and caring for handwoven art, and the occasional deep dive on what makes one tradition different from another. Read slowly. These objects were made that way.

Journal

How I Choose the Cooperatives I Work With
How RFB Woven Art vets its six artisan partners in Rwanda, Ghana, Panama and Colombia: documented outcomes, exact certification claims, the weaver paid first.
What a Basket Buys: School Fees, Houses, and Clean Water
When a handwoven basket sells, the money pays school fees in Panama, builds houses in Rwanda, and drills wells in Ghana. The documented weaver-income ledger.
The Women Behind Gahaya Links: 5 Master Weavers Who Rebuilt Rwanda's Basketry
Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana founded Gahaya Links after Rwanda's 1994 Genocide. Today 5,000+ women weave across 52 cooperatives. Meet the master weavers.
Why Weaving Is Women's Work: Five Traditions, One Constant
An essay on why basketry remains women's work across five Indigenous traditions — and how that constant shapes everything from materials to markets.
Emberá Masks: What They Are, What They Mean
An introduction to Emberá woven masks — what they mean in Emberá culture and how the tradition reaches collectors today.
What Are Ticuna Ceremonial Dolls? The Pelazón Tradition of the Colombian Amazon
A guide to Ticuna ceremonial dolls and the Pelazón tradition — the rite of passage they honor in the Colombian Amazon.
Who Are the Wounaan? Panama's Most Collectible Baskets Explained
Who the Wounaan are: history, language, the villages where their basketry is made, and the artists shaping the tradition today.
What Is an Agaseke Basket? The History and Meaning Behind Rwanda's Peace Basket
The Agaseke — Rwanda's basket of peace — has roots that go back generations and a presence on the national seal. Here's what you need to know.
Who Are the Emberá? Rivers, Genip Dye, and Silver Coins
An introduction to the Emberá people of Panama's Darién — the rivers their villages line, the genip dye they wear on their skin, and the silver coins they thread into family necklaces.