About Us

Supplier of Quality Bolga Baskets

The Baba Tree Basket Company Ltd. is an authentic gateway to the finest Bolgatanga market baskets of their kind. We aspire to a new model of ethical business that sees all of us as partners in an unfolding global transformation.

About Baba Tree Baskets

The Baba Tree Basket Co has been preserving the culture of baskets and the Gurunsi community in Bolgatanga for over 20 years. It’s here that an exquisitely woven Baba Tree community of over 250 artisans practice a time-honoured weaving technique using elephant grass and their very own “rhythm and flow”. Each basket comes directly from the hands of the artisan weavers we collaborate with - energetic, colourful, purposeful. Each luscious curve is the handprint or signature of the weaver who has expertly handcrafted your basket, we celebrate the unique differences in each and every piece.

Founder Gregory MacCarthy started weaving stories with baskets a few years after he first took steps in Ghana in 1999 with the significant understanding that good design can and will change people’s lives. The Baba Tree Basket Company continues this ongoing commitment to the artisan weavers we collaborate with through the progressive creation of sustainable jobs, fair and meaningful work and true social impact in the local community. Africa is the fastest growing continent.

Already we have seen so much positive change and progress in our time on the ground in Bolgatanga, a remote town in the Upper East Region of Ghana.. otherwise known as ‘’the city of baskets’’! Our original desire to celebrate the creativity and excellence of the Gurunsi people has never felt more significant as we continue to focus on creating income earning opportunities for the Gurunsi artisans we collaborate with and a global marketplace to celebrate their incredible craftsmanship. Honouring local basket traditions and creating exciting forms with the oldest craft in the world is what we do best!

New patterns, techniques and dye materials emerge over time as we continue to innovate, evolve and understand better the elephant grass our weavers so exquisitely weave by hand. Evolution of our products are never rushed to market, but slowly developed to be useful, beautiful and ethical. Our design and development team work closely with our Master Weavers to ensure the authenticity and incredible quality of all our basketry. Weekly workshops, skills training and the weavers own enthusiasm and innovation enable their basket mastery to be celebrated and sold all over the globe. You can discover our incredible culture of baskets for yourself at Koskela, AS’ART, The Conran Store, Couleur Locale and Goodee to name a few of our incredible retail partners!

Alongside the exclusive designs available via our online store and through our global retailers, exciting impact projects are taking our basketry to the next level. Currently we are collaborating with brands with purpose, interior designers, art galleries and hoteliers to create custom colourways and bespoke shapes never seen before! Basket is functional art we believe. Welcome.

 

About Our Founder

The Baba Tree Basket Company’s founder, Gregory ‘Ayinedollah’ MacCarthy has been traveling to and living in Ghana since winter 1999. Gregory first went to Ghana to study cultural drumming with the "Ga" tribe, who are based in the Greater Accra Region.

After months of sweating it out over a drum, he had some extra brass in his pocket when it came time to leave. He had the quaint idea that buying some beads and cloth, with his surprising surplus of cash, and reselling them in Canada, would be a marvelous way of underwriting his drum studies.That was the illustrious start of The Baba Tree’s (formerly known as the dubiously named Swingpad International Imports) tenure of being the fairest trader in Bolgatanga.

The Baba Tree’s world headquarters are based in Bolgatanga in Ghana’s Upper East Region where Gregory is surrounded by a beloved team of endearingly dedicated employees who suffer his presence daily.Arriving at The Baba Tree’s compound every day are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of weavers—men, women, children, and students—many of whom The Baba Tree has been working with for years. These are the people that butter our bread  and fill the compound with their groove, sweat and excellence. Cutting through Gregory’s delusional nature with searing effect is the vision that everyone that joins him on this undulating apple cart called The Baba Tree must benefit, if they allow it, by walking away with great product, abundance, an open heart, and hope. He prays for this every day.

He is still a hopeless drummer.