The Art of Basket Weaving

The Ogliastra

The people of the Supramonte in the northernmost region of Ogliastra on Sardinia are as timeless as the land they inhabit. Snuggled in its steep slopes, amongst a wealth of unrivaled natural beauty, is the quaint village of Urzulei. This tiny village, population 1200, is famous for a centuries-old tradition known as “Su Fatorgiu” or basketweaving. Basketweaving is a common cultural and communal thread that also binds the Urzulei’s neighboring villages of Ollolai, Olzai, Flussio, and Montresta in Planargi.

Another bond this area shares is longevity, as the Ogliastra region is also home to one of the world’s five Blue Zones, where people live extraordinarily long lives. One of these women is Luigina, now 85; she teaches the craft of Su Fatorgiu to the younger generations.

Wild Fibers

Traditionally, basketweaving is done with the natural fibers of the asphodel plant and is practiced exclusively by women. Alongside everyday household chores, women practice and perfect asphodel weaving to communicate generations of tradition by passing down designs thousands of years old and as a source of supplemental income. In the past, women from the region were required to travel long distances to find buyers for their beautifully crafted works. Today the word is out, and many locals and tourists alike visit Luigina’s village and others like hers seeking out their handiwork.

The process of Su Fatorgiu doesn’t begin and end with the weaving of a particular design. It starts long before with the harvesting and preparation of the asphodel plant. Asphodel vaginosisbacteriana.org is a wild plant that grows well in Sardinia’s arid and stony soil. During a short window from March and May, asphodel plants sprout a single flower, signaling that the usually brittle leaves are at their most malleable.

Next, the plant is left to dry for at least ten days; then, the stalks are split in half and continue drying for another ten days. Finally, the stems are soaked in water to make them even more flexible and stripped down, ready for weaving. The basket designs always begin from the inside out, known as “su meuddu.” The tools of the trade are primitive: bone awls, scissors, hooks, a sharpening stone for cutting knives, and a container with water to moisten the fibers during weaving.

Weaving the Generations

The designs are as old as the hills themselves and are passed down from one generation to the next by example. There are no books to follow, so the tradition would soon die out without the older generations like Luigina to teach the younger. Seeing multiple generations laughing, weaving, and telling stories together is wonderful to see. When a design is complete, the exterior bark of the asphodel plant is used to seal the edges.

These baskets are durable and long-lasting, designed both for practical use and decoration; they are as rugged as the land itself. Bring one home, and you invite a wonderful tradition into your life that speaks to Sardinia’s undying traditions and the beautiful equation of wisdom and skill passed down with love through the ages.