IT IS HARMLESS TO THE ENVIROMENT AND NATURALLY ARTISTIC
WRITTEN BY ART TEAM

Maybe some time the best way to figure out how to solve a problem is by looking back in time- as far back in time as the Stone Age or perhaps the Iron Age or one of those ages before mankind discovered plastic. Those that rum the seven sea or live beside one have seen the devastating harm that plastic waste does to the seas, most people don’t realize that when they throw away a plastic bottle or plastic object when it rains- it usually get sweep away into the rivers which then ends up in seas. The publics out of sight out of mind mentality is not helpful when it comes to the topic of plastic waste and the harm it does to the environment. It is then time that we change they we live so that, maybe in doing so others may become conscience of what they are doing that is wrong when the see our life style. By using natural objects like the calabash instead of plastic bowls it could be the solution to the plastic problem that we are facing right now. The calabash, this African household and artistic object may sound mouth full but it is harmless to the environment and naturally artistic.
African culture and art is as old as time it self and environmental friendly and rich. The African people knew how to live as one with nature in a way that it does little harm to it, for instance they prefer to use clay to make pots and when they want to make an object for fetching or storing water they use calabash- a gourd plant base object that can hold water- that is before the advent of plastic and the colonization of the continent. Thus the use of this object in some African societies is still prevalent, but it has been dwarf be the use of plastic and metal containers which are more prevalent in the western climes. The Africans secrete of making object that were eco-friendly lies in their ability of creating objects that could be easily disintegrate by nature- if they could crumple it with their  bare hands then nature could disintegrate it easily. Some of the most simple thing that could be easily disintegrated, they figure out comes from plants just as plastic is from plant but their ingenuity lays in finding the right plants for the right job like using a large or small gourd to make a calabash or war Jar.  Above is a picture of a gourd that looks like a jar heck that is where the Jar makers got there design from gourd plant.
The pumpkin which is a gourd has many uses apart from being an edible fruit. In Africa it is use to make what is known as ‘calabash”, the process of making a calabash start with finding the right pumpkin- it size determines the kind of  calabash while it natural shape determines the type of object it will be used for. The artisan who wants to create a calabash starts by looking for the right pumpkin that he will use when he finds it the next step is to plug it then dry the pumpkin under the sun when it is dry it will turn brownish in color, the pumpkin is then divided into two halves horizontally the contents is then carefully removed without lacerating the inside.  This old African household item is used to store food and it is also use as a bowl or for decoration.
To use the calabash for decoration artisans use the back of the calabash as a canvas to draws on it, in most instance the drawing that are usually done on it are that of flowers or animals or the planetary bodies, and in rear instance the objects that are drawn on the back are usually totem prominent in the society- the drawing is done with a hot knife. A knife is place on fire when it becomes hot, the tip of the hot knife is then use as a pencil to draw with it  when it becomes cool it is returned to the fire again until it is hot then it is use again to draw- the process is repeated  over and over until the design is completed. Below is a picture of drawing on the back of dry gourds.