Cynthia Mindayal

Cynthia created this pandanus basket using pandanus that she had stripped from the pandanus tree which grows around the island. The colours used are all natural, with the yellow from the roots of the medicine tree, the orange and red coming from coconuts, the white from the base of the pandanus leaves, the green from the pandanus ashes and the brown coming from the skin on mangroves. The colours are boiled in large pots over the fire with the stripped pandanus leaves soaking. This is then left hanging to dry, and the process of weaving begins, with wonderful creations forming, such as this beautiful basket