Dora Flor Alba Briceño

Artesanías El Laurel

Basketweaver

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For the love of her lagoon

Dora Flor Alba won the Lápiz de Oro award
Her discipline has enabled her to perfect her technique
Fúquene Lagoon is her source of inspiration and provision

Her laughter echoes all throughout Fúquene. Dora Flor Alba Briceño lives for and thanks to the lagoon. She understands it, walks around it, caresses its waters. She knows when she can harvest its reeds because she asks for permission, just as every member of her family has always done. She has a distant memory of her great-grandmother Cristo, her grandmother Ángela, and her parents sitting on the floor and weaving the mats they sold for a living. They affectionately called her gurrioncita. At the age of eight, she was already riding on the boat, and learning both to cut bundles of reeds through waist-deep water, and to make beautiful baskets, mats, and vessels.

Interview

When and how did you actually start?
I have 56 years of experience. I started with my grandmother when I was eight to weave mats, which were used as mattresses to sleep. I learnt to cut and remove the junco (reed) and enea (bulrush), to then let it dry and select the best parts to weave them.
Do you train apprentices?
In 2000 I was invited by SENA (National Apprentice Service) to share my knowledge in Cartagena with 50 craftswoman who had begun weaving with reeds. Also, Artesanías de Colombia organised two workshops in 2018 and 2019 for craftswomen from Usiacurí in Fúquene.
What are your specialisations?
I have developed a keen eye to identify when the raw material is dry enough to start braiding or weaving. I am always thirsty for new knowledge and to follow workshops. I have had to work really hard to reach perfection.
How has your craft changed over time?
In the 90s I received technical assistance form Cundinamarca’s Government and Artesanías de Colombia to learn to weave rolled basketry with iron molds, resulting in more innovative products. I started to include multiple-shaped baskets, glass holders, table mats, chests and pot holders.

Dora Flor Alba Briceño is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1996 and she started teaching in 2019