MAKERS | EUROPE | ITALY | WEAVING

Dintreccio | Basket Weavers

Wicker lovers Antonella Varoli Piazza and Camilla Mocenni bought too many baskets at markets before discovering they could make them. After an apprenticeship with an old Sicilian basket-maker who passed her ancient secrets to them, Antonella and Camilla gave themselves the name Dintreccio (‘made by weaving’) and converted their attic into an atelier in the centre of Rome. This was but the beginning of a long journey to discover the varied and surprising weaving techniques of the Italian tradition, different from region to region but everywhere at risk of disappearing. 

How did you begin?

It all stemmed from our long-standing friendship and a shared passion for baskets: we used to buy baskets all the time, at markets or wherever we could find them, and at some point we felt like learning how to make them - at first without imagining making a profession out of it, because we were physics and restoration graduates respectively and had careers outside the craft.

Thinking about it, what attracted us at the beginning (when we were mere buyers) was perhaps the same thing that convinced us to persevere: the fact that few baskets made in the traditional way could now be found and that the technique is in danger of dying out, due to a lack of heirs, along with the last craftsmen.

After the first ‘basket-making lessons’ with our initiator, a Sicilian lady, we went on to perfect ourselves and got in touch with many other masters from different regions... and they all urged us, in very energetic tones, to learn and not give up. ‘You have to pass on the art,’ they all told us. ‘Learn before it's too late!’. And so now we feel very responsible...very conscious of our secular role.

How did you learn?

The first course we took was in Rome, by an old Sicilian lady. In Italy, unlike France and England, the craft of basket-making has always been held in low esteem. Our teacher came from a very modest social background and had learnt at a very young age; then she had learnt to value craftsmanship more and, after having lived for a long time in Friuli Venezia Giulia (which also has a centuries-old tradition of basket-making), she started to pass on the art by giving courses and lectures.

Meeting her as an old woman, the urgency she had in passing on her knowledge was something immediately perceptible. She encouraged us a lot - certainly seeing that there was genuine interest in us. We were top of the class! One of the things she told us was: ‘Let the basket speak to you’! At first it seemed like an absurd suggestion, an old hippie way of thinking. But as we became more familiar with the technique, meaning of these words, we understood very well the meaning of these words. The willow branches we use are living matter and know where they want to go! A basket is made partly by the maker's hands, partly by the tree.

How do you plan, prepare and create?

We have made ourselves a workshop in a city attic, where we work away from all distractions, often in absolute silence. There is something repetitive in the gesture of weaving that brings us into a state similar to meditation... Seeing the finished result one does not think about it, but to weave a basket takes a lot of concentration and also great physical effort.

The first step is the choice of materials: we mainly use willow (which can be of different colours and thicknesses) and occasionally marsh grasses (which are less rigid, according to the Emilia Romagna technique). The willow comes to us from one of the very few remaining suppliers in Italy, located in Turin, and arrives that is seasoned, dry, so we have to soak it to revitalise it.

This process can take up to two weeks... and to think that in the beginning, when we were not yet well equipped, we did it in our bathtub! This is quite a technical step, because you have to calculate the soaking time well: too little does not make the branches usable; too much makes them rot. In the meantime, we can also get creative and draw sketches of what we want to make.

When the branches have softened, we devote ourselves to the actual weaving. This has to be done rather quickly, because by staying out of the water the branches tend to dry out again (even faster in summer). We have various tools to help us: shears, awls, knives....we always have our hands covered with plaster! Working too many hours in a row is impossible, because it becomes too painful for the hands. After six hours one feels completely exhausted, but it is a satisfying tiredness.

Who or what most inspires you?

From the very beginning, we liked the idea of working within a very long tradition. Over the centuries, history has meant that man has invented the shapes most suited to the end use, and so there are many baskets from which we can draw inspiration. The hamper, which have the typical rolled handle and were used to hold food or accompanied mushroom pickers in their search...The ‘gerle’, used to carry hay on the shoulders....The baskets for timber...The types are many. We like to look at old photographs and zoom in on the black and white details to study how certain baskets useful for country life were made. For a touch of modernity, we tend to indulge in details: we add bone handles, leather, fabric...

What are the best and worst things about being a craftsperson today?

Unfortunately, in the collective imagination, basketry is still a very humble and anachronistic activity. Friends are very surprised at what we chose to do for work, and our children did not want to confess it to their schoolmates. But if there is a kind of prejudice about the activity itself, the good thing is that the finished works always trigger great enthusiasm. When we present our creations, we are always approached by admiring onlookers: women are enchanted by the beauty of the products, while men come to ask us technical questions about how they were made. Another downside? We have to use a lot of hand cream!

Interview by Sara Pierdonà
Images from Dintreccio