Tall Rwandan Baskets: Agaseke Woven by Gahaya Links Women Artisans
16 to 65 inches tall, from smaller Agaseke vessels to towering floor sculpture. The tall forms are coiled from sweetgrass and sisal on a bamboo core. Woven by women whose craft helped rebuild a nation after the 1994 genocide.
Height range — RFB collection
What Are Tall Rwandan Baskets?
Tall Rwandan baskets — known as Agaseke — are one of the most architecturally distinctive handwoven objects made anywhere in the world. At 54–65 inches, the form is no longer a basket in any functional sense. It is a floor sculpture.
RFB also carries smaller 16-inch Agaseke vessels, often sold in pairs.
Built in two complete layers: an inner bamboo framework gives the basket its height and rigidity; the outer layer of coiled sweetgrass and hand-dyed sisal carries the pattern. No other US retailer stocks the tall Agaseke at this scale.
What Defines Them
The Construction
Double layer: bamboo inner framework plus sweetgrass and sisal outer weave. The bamboo gives height — without it, the form collapses. It took weavers years to refine.
The Pattern
Bold geometric motifs in terracotta, indigo, burgundy, black, and natural sisal. Each weaver produces slightly different geometry — no two baskets are ever the same.
The Materials
Wild sweetgrass forms the coil. Sisal — from pounded Agave — is wrapped to create the pattern. Swamp grass for the outer wrap is harvested seasonally in Rwanda’s dry season.
5,000
Weavers
52
Cooperatives across Rwanda
The Making
How Tall Rwandan Baskets Are Made
An inner framework of woven bamboo splints is built first — this gives the basket its height and structural independence. Without it, the form collapses under its own weight.
Wild sweetgrass is harvested seasonally and coiled around the bamboo frame, forming the load-bearing spiral that carries the basket upward.
Sisal — extracted from pounded Agave leaves and dyed in terracotta, indigo, burgundy, black, or left natural — is wrapped over the sweetgrass coils. Bold geometric patterns are worked into the surface as the artisan progresses upward.
The lid is woven separately and fitted to the body. The complete process takes weeks of sustained work per piece.
The People
Gahaya Links: Weaving as Rebuilding
Gahaya Links was founded by Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana following the 1994 Rwandan genocide as a path to economic independence and reconciliation through craft. Today it comprises more than 5,000 women across 52 cooperatives throughout Rwanda.
For these weavers, basket-making is not a hobby. It is the primary income for their families and a daily act of national rebuilding. Learn how we source →
Cultural Significance
The Cultural Significance of the Agaseke Basket
The Agaseke is Rwanda’s traditional lidded coil basket — and a national symbol. It appears on the Rwandan national seal and is widely known as the “basket of peace.” Traditionally given at weddings and births, the Agaseke symbolizes generosity, unity, and womanhood.
Originally woven for Rwandan royalty to carry their most valued possessions, the Agaseke has carried meaning across generations as both an everyday object and a vessel of cultural memory. The tall form RFB sources is a contemporary scaling of this centuries-old tradition into a sculptural object designed for modern interiors — the same craft, the same materials, scaled to floor presence.
Questions About Tall Rwandan Baskets
What are tall Rwandan baskets?
Large-scale Agaseke — traditional Rwandan coil baskets — built to 54–65 inches using double-layer construction: an inner bamboo framework covered with coiled sweetgrass and hand-dyed sisal. At this height they function as floor sculptures rather than functional containers.
What is an Agaseke basket?
Rwanda’s traditional lidded coil basket, woven from sweetgrass and sisal. The Agaseke appears on the Rwandan national seal and is called “the basket of peace.” Traditionally given at weddings and births, it symbolizes generosity, unity, and womanhood — and was originally woven for Rwandan royalty to carry their most valued possessions.
Where can I buy tall Rwandan baskets in the US?
RFB Woven Art is one of the very few US sources for tall Agaseke at 54–65 inches, sourced directly from Gahaya Links cooperatives in Rwanda. Most US retailers carrying Rwandan baskets stock small and medium sizes only — the tall form at this height requires specialist sourcing.
How are tall Rwandan baskets made?
In two layers. First, an inner framework of woven bamboo splints gives the basket its height and structural independence. Then the outer layer: wild sweetgrass coiled and wrapped in hand-dyed sisal, with bold geometric patterns worked in as the artisan progresses upward. The lid is woven separately and fitted to the body. The process takes weeks of sustained work per piece.
Who makes tall Rwandan baskets?
Women artisans in Gahaya Links cooperatives across rural Rwanda — an organization founded by Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana following the 1994 genocide as a path to economic independence and reconciliation through craft. Today Gahaya Links comprises more than 5,000 women across 52 cooperatives throughout Rwanda.
How do I display a tall Rwandan basket?
As a floor piece — in a corner, beside a sofa, or in an entryway where the full height reads clearly. At 60 inches it sits at or above eye level and fills vertical space the way a significant sculpture does. Pair with low furniture to emphasize the height. The basket stands independently without any support structure.
How tall do Rwandan baskets get?
Traditional Agaseke range from small gift sizes up to very large forms. RFB carries the tall Agaseke specifically — 54 to 65 inches — made possible by a double-layer bamboo construction technique developed by Gahaya Links weavers. These are among the tallest handwoven baskets available in the US market. RFB also carries smaller 16-inch Agaseke vessels.
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