Basket with Lid Baniwa

Basketry with natural arumã fiber is a traditional art of the Baniwa culture, an indigenous group comprising 22 peoples who use Aruak family languages ​​and inhabit the surroundings of the rivers that border Brazil with Venezuela and Colombia.

The stalk of the various plants of the Matantaceae family is used, which are peeled, scraped and sanded for dyeing (red with annatto and black with ashes) or kept with the bark, which gives it a lacquered appearance, making it more resistant.

The urutu oolóda is one of the most traditional formats of natural fiber baskets of the Baniwa peoples, as well as the kaxadádali , which comprises basketry with a potbellied shape and sides enriched with graphics full of natural symbols, such as the tsiipa ittipi , which represents a pacu's tail .

Its production follows the dynamics of the villages, with a small-scale artisanal process, which preserves its cultural value and the potential for plant growth, making the means of economic autonomy for the community a legitimate sustainable art.