Elephants on the Handles

The third elephant item I found in my kitchen cupboards was a set of placemats.  I have a set of 8 placemats which I can use when having guests in for dinner.  If I want to decorate with an elephant theme these placemats are a perfect choice.  

And yes, these placemats came from Zimbabwe.  

Traditional Zimbabwean crafts include pottery, basket making, textiles, jewellery and carving.  Zimbabwean arts and crafts have been a part of the country’s cultural heritage. It provides many people with employment opportunities, especially in rural areas. 

Arts and crafts are a great way to preserve ancient cultural heritage.  The country has over 15000 sites like cave walls and cliffs which display ancient cave paintings of the bushmen.  Bags, blankets, headdresses, and many more items from that time period have been preserved in various museums around Zimbabwe.

Modern Zimbabwean art is also well known.  Zimbabwean stone sculpture carved from sedimentary rocks such as soapstone or harder igneous rocks such as serpentine is quite famous.  In Harare, the capital city, there are several sculpture gardens where visitors can view and buy these works of art.

Another creative trade found in Zimbabwe is leather products.  There are 8 tanneries in the country.  Footwear is a prominent leather product.  Work in exotic leather, such as crocodile and buffalo skin, is a reason why Zimbabwean leather trade is unique.  

Other modern arts and crafts are pottery, basketry, textile, jewellery and woodcarving.  All of these are displayed in galleries and shops such as the National Gallery in Bulawayo and in Harare.  Zimbabwean art is much sought after all over the world.  Countries such as South Africa, Singapore, USA, China and Canada have been active in trade with Zimbabwe. 

I like my quilted placemats and am delighted that the design on them shows elephants.

# living life abundantly   # published author