Weaving in Lagrasse

Creative basketry in the Corbières

In one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, come and enjoy French hospitality, stunning scenery and local food and wine in the company of our expert basketry tutors

TIM JOHNSON and MONICA GUILERA

Tucked into the heart of the Corbières in southern France and bathed in sunshine for around 300 days a year, Lagrasse attracts an extraordinary variety of residents, complementing its salt-of-the-earth locals. It is a community of creators, with artists, potters and makers tucked away in its narrow, cobblestoned streets. 

The tiny population of 500 people live in this medieval listed village surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, its backdrop dominated by an 8th century working Abbey and views of the distant Pyrenees. Situated in a valley surrounded by Mediterranean hillsides full of rosemary, thyme and cypress trees, the river Orbieu - in which one can swim -meanders through the village.

Lagrasse attracts thousands of visitors each year, some of whom never leave, falling in love with this picture postcard example of rural France and changing their lives to allow them to pursue their dream.

Cafes and restaurants are plentiful with all tastes and budgets catered for from pizzas to Michelin Guide cuisine. Saturday morning is market day with organic and locally produced foods and wines.

Each basketry course will run from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon, but we urge you to stay a while longer and enjoy everything that this stunning corner of France that we call home has to offer.

THE WORKSHOPS

  • Woven Wearables with Tim Johnson

    Join artist and basketmaker Tim Johnson for a weekend of exploration to make wearable sculptural body adornment and contemporary jewellery.

    Inspired by nature, traditional costume, material processing and an experimental approach you will learn a variety of traditional basketmaking and textile techniques that will lead you in new creative directions.

    Twining, knotting, wrapping and ply-splitting offer opportunities to combine diverse materials with contrasting colour, texture and flexibility - what creative choices will you make?

  • Vilanova Fruit Basket in Nansa Fishtrap Technique with Mònica Guilera

    The Mediterranean is home to a beautiful and distinctive technique of weaving used by fishermen to make a variety of fishing baskets and traps. In Catalonia ‘Nansa’ fish traps were made in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the kind of fish they wanted to catch, the traps were usually made in the winter with a very tough kind of rush as well as split cane and olive stems.

    In this workshop you will learn to make a Vilanova Fruit Basket inspired by Monica's research into the diversity of her local  tradition. Masters of their craft, fishermen created a wide variety of basket designs in the nansa technique for domestic as well as fishing usage. 

    This basket combines a special star base with nansa sidings and a bundle border, you will gain a good grounding in this special technique based on triangles combining willow with a variety of colourful threads.

The cost of each 2 day workshop is €200.

All materials are provided, as well as drinks during the course (tea, coffee etc).  As an optional extra, we have organised lunch each day at a local restaurant (vegetarian choice available) for 25€ per meal, which includes a main dish, dessert, wine and coffee.

The course starts at 9am and finishes at 5pm each day. 

Each participant leaves with their own creations.  (For those travelling by air, we can arrange to post your creations to your home).  

A deposit of €100 is payable on booking which confirms your reservation.

Any questions? Contact Beverly at weavinginlagrasse@gmail.com
If not, book your place now ... there are only 10 places per workshop!

BOOKING FORM

Travel to Lagrasse

We have organised a WhatsApp group for anyone who wants to make shared travel and accommodation plans.

The nearest train stations are Lézignan-Corbières, Narbonne and Carcassonne, all of which are a 20-40 minute drive from Lagrasse.
Taxis and lifts can be arranged on request.

Airports: Flights to Carcassonne and Perpignan airports are via Ryanair.  Toulouse and Montpelier airports are further away, but offer a wider range of departure airports and airlines across Europe. It would be necessary to hire a car or catch a train to the above stations.

ACCOMMODATION
Lagrasse has a number of hotels, B&Bs and self-catering accommodation, for example

Chez Shona B&B
L'Hostellerie des Corbières
La Bouquerie

Booking.com and Airbnb have several other accommodation options.