Basket weaving
EUNIC Creative Zimbabwe Programme

British Council, Alliance Francaise and the Goethe Institute under the banner of EUNIC - European Union National Institutes of Culture, Zimbabwe Cluster – launched the Creative Zimbabwe Programme in November 2013. 

The European Union is supporting the programme with a financial contribution of €495,000, equivalent to approximately USD 670,000, to be used over 18 months to contribute to the professionalisation of the cultural sector in Zimbabwe.

Creating links to new markets

The EUNIC Creative Zimbabwe Programme contributes towards sustainable development of the creative industry in Zimbabwe by creating links to European and regional markets. 

The programme builds on the successful Basket Case weaving project run by Alliance Francaise in 2009/10, and the British Council’s on-going Creative Economy programme. It is designed to build further the capacity of weaving communities to interact independently with market players including local entrepreneurs, training providers and international buyers.

Exchanging expertise 

Creative Zimbabwe will provide a platform for the exchange of African and EU creative industry expertise.  The programme will work with over 1,000 rural basket weavers located in Lupane, Binga, Masvingo, Bulawayo and Honde Valley.

The weavers will receive training and will have the opportunity to collaborate with prominent Zimbabwean and European designers and visual artists creating weaving products and contemporary art pieces of an international standard. This will lead to increased exposure to local, regional and international markets, with the aim of realising improved household income within the participating rural communities. 

Under parallel projects, a total of 20 artists from different disciplines will gain exposure through a series of professional development interventions in the areas of film and visual art. 

In addition, five Zimbabwean writers will come together with a German research writer and The National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe to write a contemporary art book, ‘Mawonero’. 

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