Looking for a new hobby? Try calabashing!

THE calabash, or gourd, is the fruit of a plant that grows in northern Namibia.

Tribal people have been using the hard outer shell of the calabash as ladles, scoops or containers for centuries. Here in Namibia, the art of calabashing to turn this humble vegetable into a marketable commodity is slowly taking off.Este Wiggill, who has been producing ostrich-egg crafts for many years, recently took up calabashing.She received her first calabashes from a colleague who brought them from the North.Once she started creating bird feeders, bird houses, bowls and scoops, she could not stop.”The bug has bitten and now I just want to create,” she says.Wiggill has produced a DVD in which she shares not only her love for calabashing but also her knowledge.The DVD, titled ‘Calabashing for Beginners’, teaches people how to create beautiful crafts using very simple tools.The end product can be sold to earn an income.”Calabashing is very satisfying and once you have cleaned the fruit and you meet the calabash for the first time, you see what you want to do with it and what you creation will look like in the end,” she says.”Every fruit is different and they have their own unique markings, which can be incorporated into the design and thus shape the end product.”PASSING IT ON! Calabashing is eco-friendly, as no trees are cut down and the seeds scooped out of the fruit are replanted.Wiggill has taught some women at her former workplace the basic skills and now they are selling their calabash crafts for extra income.Stephanus Walombola, who works in Wiggill’s garden, also became fascinated with the art by watching her at work.He took home a calabash and some paint and returned the finished product the next week with the words: “This is so easy and I never knew that I could paint or create something beautiful”.Walombola now sells his calabash ladles and bowls to his friends in Katutura.The people in the North have been using the calabash for centuries and it is part of the country’s heritage.The utensils made from the gourds were decorated, but only used for domestic purposes and not sold.If decorated with African motifs, however, calabash crafts have proven popular with tourists and local people alike at crafts markets.Wiggill even stitches ostrich leather, ostrich-egg shell, beads, porcupine quills and pearls onto her calabashes.She says the designs and potential uses for calabashes are endless and only limited to the artist’s imagination.”Let us join hands and elevate our Namibian calabash, and in doing so, contribute to Namibian art, and the land.The calabash holds endless possibilities for farmers, vendors, artists, community projects, craft markets and tourist markets,” she says.Anybody interested in buying the DVD, or who needs more information on calabashing, can contact Este Wiggill at tel/fax (061) 25 0928.Here in Namibia, the art of calabashing to turn this humble vegetable into a marketable commodity is slowly taking off.Este Wiggill, who has been producing ostrich-egg crafts for many years, recently took up calabashing.She received her first calabashes from a colleague who brought them from the North.Once she started creating bird feeders, bird houses, bowls and scoops, she could not stop.”The bug has bitten and now I just want to create,” she says.Wiggill has produced a DVD in which she shares not only her love for calabashing but also her knowledge.The DVD, titled ‘Calabashing for Beginners’, teaches people how to create beautiful crafts using very simple tools.The end product can be sold to earn an income.”Calabashing is very satisfying and once you have cleaned the fruit and you meet the calabash for the first time, you see what you want to do with it and what you creation will look like in the end,” she says.”Every fruit is different and they have their own unique markings, which can be incorporated into the design and thus shape the end product.”PASSING IT ON! Calabashing is eco-friendly, as no trees are cut down and the seeds scooped out of the fruit are replanted.Wiggill has taught some women at her former workplace the basic skills and now they are selling their calabash crafts for extra income.Stephanus Walombola, who works in Wiggill’s garden, also became fascinated with the art by watching her at work.He took home a calabash and some paint and returned the finished product the next week with the words: “This is so easy and I never knew that I could paint or create something beautiful”.Walombola now sells his calabash ladles and bowls to his friends in Katutura.The people in the North have been using the calabash for centuries and it is part of the country’s heritage.The utensils made from the gourds were decorated, but only used for domestic purposes and not sold.If decorated with African motifs, however, calabash crafts have proven popular with tourists and local people alike at crafts markets.Wiggill even stitches ostrich leather, ostrich-egg shell, beads, porcupine quills and pearls onto her calabashes.She says the designs and potential uses for calabashes are endless and only limited to the artist’s imagination.”Let us join hands and elevate our Namibian calabash, and in doing so, contribute to Namibian art, and the land.The calabash holds endless possibilities for farmers, vendors, artists, community projects, craft markets and tourist markets,” she says.Anybody interested in buying the DVD, or who needs more information on calabashing, can contact Este Wiggill at tel/fax (061) 25 0928.