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Alexander Edward

@basketcasebelfast

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Landworker, willow weaver and hearing aid user. Grow willow without pesticides on the Strangford Lough shoreline and weave from my Belfast workshop.

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The climate crisis will change heritage crafts. Unpredictable, extreme weather, and our ability to harvest and work, may degrade willow to a scarcely availble product.

I am making a set of four baskets this year which will use 'forever' materials to replace some willow rods, and weave them using standard, traditional techniques. I imagine a world where we have far less material to use and how we might promote creativity and utility in an uncertain and perhaps dystopic world. I think this is part of the challenging future under a chaotic climate and I am calling the project the four baskets of the apocalyspe.

The first is a baby basket where Ive replaced around eighty rods of willow, akin to a stump lost in flash flooding, with four bicycle tubes stripped, stretched and woven in a wale form as well as for handle wrapping. It is on display at @boom.studios as part of @latenightartbangor from late July to August.

As creatives and growers, I think we would respond to the crisis creatively and not by weaving less. We ought to understand our future is as gaurenteed as forestry in California, tourism in Greece or wine production in France. The climate will submerge some of our plots, or set them alight or scorch them in drought, or rip whips and pull out stumps in extreme winds. We may be unwilling, or barred, from harvesting or watering in these conditions. Willow is miraculously resilient but basketry willow relies on fine rods that need predictable weather and good access. Like us, our craft will have to be resilient and transform and, ultimately, our role will be alongside communities struggling to make a just, equitable future in a climate destabilised world as their struggles are ours.

Thanks to @junior.brother whose dystopic turns on irish tradition in their new(ish) album helped me think of this/ scared the hell out of me. Lovely stuff.

#heritagecrafts #willowbaskets #dystopian #willowweaving #ageofextinction by @basketcasebelfast

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4 months ago

Last call for sign ups to the bottle basket making class in @theamericanbarsailortown for evening of Thursday 8th October.

Ticket invite sent out to mailing list; mailing list sign up available via link in bio.

Photos by @billybillywoods sadly not included, but looking as stylish as @ykmk_ @beetjuice555 and myself most certainly is. by @basketcasebelfast

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21 days ago

I have spent a lot of time this weekend thinking and talking about basketry and the processes of growing and weaving, so I decided to record me making and narrating so you can see and hear the process as full.

#basketry #wicker #hypnotic #slowliving #cottagecore by @basketcasebelfast

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Commissioned handbag-come-satchel en route to London for some city stylings. Banding given by different willows, and a gentle taper to keep belongings safe and sound. Comfortably worn cross body or from shoulder.

Fancy some wicker made just for you? Drop me a message or click on the link in bio to do likewise. by @basketcasebelfast

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Two more wicker handbags, strapped and ready for market. Catch them @eastblockbazaar this 25th October. by @basketcasebelfast

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SUNDAY 25TH OCTOBER // 12-4 // Banana Block, Newtownards Rd.

No basket yet? No problem! Cash, card or cones from that trad ice cream place down from Banana Block accepted as payment. Scroll through for the wicker whats coming to @eastblockbazaar this month. by @basketcasebelfast

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5 days ago

Foraging satchel embracing five varieties of willow and held with a black canvas strap. Easy to carry by hand or on the shoulder, and fits well to the body. Being willow, easy to water down after foraging and could certainly be used around town too.

I really appreciate when wicker is reimagined and have been admiring a number of folk who replace the typical woven handle baskets for foraging with a strap. I've done the same here, but used more of a natural or camouflage pattern to meet the reality that Ireland is one of poorest places in Europe for land access and foragers are most likely to trespass to get the goods.

Our land is ours!

#dúchas #wicker #heritagecrafts #contemporaryweaving by @basketcasebelfast

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8 days ago

A very fun night with Belfast's newest weavers who all made these glorious, snazzy and way talented wicker bottle baskets. Look at how brilliant they all are!

Heritage crafts are for us all, it's all of ours culture, and thanks again to @theamericanbarsailortown for hosting and helping keep wicker alive, as well as to @thegratefulbread1 for the food.

Another bottle basket class upcoming in November which will go out to folks via my newsletter. If you follow the link in my bio and click "classes sign up", you'll be the first to know!

#wicker #heritagecrafts #basketmaking by @basketcasebelfast

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16 days ago

Wicker handbag, shaped in a sloped manner to keep belongings safe and sound.

Woven with a variety of willows and styled using a double randed zig zag pattern across the middle of the exterior wall.

Habedashery was shut today so have used a make shift black strap for now; keen to know what colour straps/ fittings I should put on this, so let me know before I go get them next week.

Available at the upcoming @rottenapple_events market at the @sunflowerpub next weekend.

#wicker #handbag #irishfashion by @basketcasebelfast

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22 days ago

🪾Willow wreath and floristry workshop with Alexander and Leasha 🪾

Join us this December for a festive wreath making workshop. Alexander will bring freshly harvested basketry willow from the Strangford Lough shoreline and, guided by them, Stage 1 you will make from scratch your natural, traditional willow wreath. Stage 2, Leasha will then guide you through the process of adorning your wreath with locally foraged plants and hand-made decorations. Resist 'landfill-core' this festive season!

🗓 Monday 7th December, 3pm - 7pm
🎟 £60 (materials included)
🖱theduncairn.com taken in The Duncairn by @basketcasebelfast

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23 days ago

Introducing this slung worn bottle basket and the upcoming classes to make it kindly hosted by @theamericanbarsailortown. Link to sign up for email invite is in my bio.

Fits a range of bottles as well as space inside for odds and ends. Designed as a way to bring heritage into daily life, as traditional crafts are for all of us.

Go raibh mile maith agaibh a @billybillywoods for these lush photos and to @ykmk_ and @beetjuice555 for making me grin so much as they modelled them round our city. A big thanks, too, to @katybremerbasketry for inspiring to make bottle baskets and answering my maker-questions.

#dúchas #bealfeirste #wicker by @basketcasebelfast

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