Alebdel and Paulina: Two Bolga Weavers in Northern Ghana
Meet the Maker · Ghana (Bolgatanga)
Alebdel and Paulina: Two Bolga Weavers in Northern Ghana
One is twenty-one and just finished senior high school. One learned at her mother's side when she was eight. Both weave the elephant grass baskets that leave Bolgatanga for American rooms.
Alebdel, left, and Paulina, right, each with a hairy basket just off the bench in Bolgatanga.
Alebdel is twenty-one years old, has just finished senior high school, and is weaving to pay for what comes next. Paulina is twenty-four. She started weaving at eight, taught by her mother, and she wants to study computer science. They are two of the weavers who make the elephant grass baskets RFB Woven Art sources out of Bolgatanga, and their work is the reason a Ghana basket is worth what it costs.
Most writing about Bolga baskets describes the basket. This one describes the hands.
Who weaves a Bolga basket?
Bolga baskets come from Bolgatanga in Ghana's Upper East Region, and they are woven primarily by Gurune women, also known as the Frafra. Farming in that region is viable only from April through July. For the other eight months of the year weaving is the household's main income, which makes it an economic foundation rather than a seasonal craft.
Alebdel finished senior high school this year and is weaving to fund further education. In Ghana that gap between secondary school and any next step is where a lot of young people stop, because the fees are real and the family budget is not elastic. Weaving is what keeps the door open.
Paulina has been weaving for sixteen years. She learned from her mother, which is how nearly all of this knowledge moves in Bolgatanga, one woman's hands to another's. She wants to study computer science.
A Bolgatanga weaver with a bundle of elephant grass, cut and ready to be split and twisted by hand.
What is a Bolga basket made of?
Elephant grass, known regionally as Veta Vera or Napier grass and botanically as Pennisetum purpureum. In Bolgatanga it is called kinkahe. Weavers harvest it across Ghana's savanna, split the straws by hand, sometimes starting the separation with their teeth, then twist each strand to strengthen it. Natural plant dyes go on next. The grass is soaked before weaving so it will bend without cracking.
The wavy baskets RFB sources are woven into their wave shapes while the grass is still moist, and the rim and body hold those curves as the material dries. No mold is involved and no press. Hairy baskets leave the grass ends untrimmed and proud of the surface on purpose, which is why they read differently at every hour of the day. Trimming a finished basket takes a full day with a razor blade, and one bad cut ruins a week of weaving.
Why RFB works with this Bolgatanga enterprise
Jennifer Kuyper sources Ghana pieces through a Bolgatanga weaving enterprise accredited by Fair for Life and For Life, which states it is the only Bolga basket company in West Africa holding that accreditation. More than 5,000 women weave with it across 13 villages, and they receive 90 percent of their earnings upfront rather than on delivery, which matters when a large sculptural basket takes a week or more to finish.
RFB Woven Art vets every partner by what it actually does for the people who weave. This one has funded four boreholes for clean drinking water and pays school fees in the weaving villages. That is the test: documented outcomes, not a logo.
The weaver is the first person paid, not the last.
— Jen, RFB Woven ArtHow can you tell a well-woven Bolga basket?
Start with a single strand. Elephant grass is split by hand, sometimes with the weaver's teeth to open the straw, then twisted before it is woven. Follow one strand across the surface and it varies a little in width and in how tightly the twist runs. Machine-cut or synthetic straw is uniform down its whole length.
Then look at the coil. Even tension all the way around, no thin spots where the twist loosened, and a rim that closes cleanly without a lump. On a wavy basket the curves should be irregular in the way a hand is irregular, not identical, because they were shaped while the grass was damp. On a hairy basket the ends should be deliberate and consistent in length across the surface, not a fray.
The large sculptural forms RFB carries are not the market totes that sell for $30 to $80. They are custom-scaled floor pieces that take a week or more from grass preparation to final trim, and each one is a single piece that is never restocked. A basket like that holds its value because there is no second one.
These two are not the story behind the basket. They are the reason there is a basket.
❤️ Jen at RFB Woven Art
Questions about Bolga weavers and their baskets
Who are Alebdel and Paulina?
Alebdel and Paulina are Bolga basket weavers in northern Ghana who work with the Bolgatanga enterprise RFB Woven Art sources from. Alebdel is 21, finished senior high school this year, and weaves to fund further education. Paulina is 24, learned to weave from her mother at age 8, and wants to study computer science.
What are Bolga baskets made of?
Elephant grass, called Veta Vera or Napier grass and known locally in Bolgatanga as kinkahe. The botanical name is Pennisetum purpureum. Weavers split the straws by hand, twist them for strength, dye them with natural plant pigments, and soak the grass before weaving so it bends without cracking. Read more in What Are Ghana Elephant Grass Baskets?
Can you tell me who wove a specific Ghana basket?
Not by name. Ghana baskets come through a Bolgatanga enterprise that works with more than 5,000 women across 13 villages, and pieces are not attributed to an individual weaver. RFB Woven Art can name the individual weaver for its Panama and Colombia pieces, but Ghana traces to the enterprise and the village network rather than to one woman.
How long does a Bolga basket take to weave?
A medium basket takes several days. A large XL sculptural floor piece takes a week or more, counting grass preparation, dyeing, weaving, and finishing. Final trimming alone takes a full day of careful work with a razor blade.
How do Ghana baskets compare with Rwandan Agaseke baskets?
Ghana Bolga baskets are woven from elephant grass into wide sculptural floor forms. Rwandan Agaseke baskets are coiled from sweetgrass and hand-dyed sisal, and the tall pieces from 54 to 65 inches are built over an inner bamboo framework. See Ghana vs Rwanda Baskets for the full comparison.
