Origin : Okaina community, La Chorrera township, Amazons, Colombia

Technique : basket weaving

Materials : yaré vine and cumare

Approximate dimensions : 17 1/2" d

With a differentiating spiral pattern, the Okaina woven placemat is a very distinctive object. It can be placed upon a wall or as a table center piece, its decorative character will bring life to any room.

Also known as the 'sons of tabaco, coca and sweet yuca', the indigenous Okaina community, located in the southern-most part of Colombia, has a population of just 285 people. Basket weaving has traditionally been an important part of the cultural activities of the community. For more than 15 years, under the leadership of Don Jose Pablo Neikase, 26 artisans have been working together to maintain the social and economic sustainability of the community and keep this ancestral technique alive.  

Each Okaina basket is crafted using ancestral symbology, and their designs are dictated by a story ... a story of the people, the region and the nature that surrounds them.