The Baba Tree Basket Co has been preserving the culture of baskets and the Gurunsi community in Bolgatanga for the last 15 years. It’s here that an exquisitely woven community of over 600 Baba Tree artisans practice a time-honoured weaving technique using elephant grass and their very own “rhythm and flow”. 

Founder Gregory MacCarthy started weaving stories with baskets a few years after he first took steps here in 2004. His original desire to celebrate the creativity and excellence of this exquisitely woven community has never felt more significant. The Baba Tree continues this ongoing commitment to the artisan weavers and the many incredibly talented crew members we work alongside through fair and meaningful work, capacity building and true social impact in the local community.

Each basket comes direct from the hands of the artisan weavers we collaborate with - energetic, colourful, purposeful. Each luscious curve is the handprint or signature of the weaver who has expertly handcrafted your basket, we celebrate the unique differences in each and every art piece.

Basket is Art we believe!

Bettina McILwraith - Creative Director, style activist and purveyor of ethical goods.

It is an absolute privilege to interweave my skills with the immense creativity and wisdom of the artisans I collaborate with. To preserve culture, honour sacred materials and create new pathways and career opportunities for the artisans I work with is central to the work I do. Partnerships that uplift and with a focus on sustainability, wellbeing and who view design as a tool to enhance humanity is where it’s at for me. 

I was invited to work in a multitude of roles with the Baba Tree artisans in the remote location of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana in March 2019.. while finishing up a job in Kenya and jumped at the chance to work alongside some of the world’s most talented basket artisans. I continue to work across design, development of ideas, creative direction, communications and social media from my now location in Noosa Heads. 

I am a Creative Director and Founder working with communities of artists, designers and artisans these last 20 years, most recently in Ghana and Kenya. Appetite for Decoration is a community, brand consultancy and marketplace with social impact at its core. We provide ethical solutions and ideas re forecasting, infrastructure, design and communications to designers and brands who put people and planet first.