Basketry

Fizara is a square, envelope-like bamboo basket used for long-term storage of potatoes and other vegetables. In rural Rakhine, Rohingya households traditionally store and preserve vegetables in fizara hung outside in the open air. In the absence of refrigeration, this technique preserves the vegetables and concentrates their taste. The use of sun-dried vegetables is a unique feature of Rohingya cooking, giving dishes a particular texture and taste. An alternate use of fizara is as a cage to transport small birds to the market for sale. To make fizara, split bamboo is woven in a square shape. The four corners are then folded over and stitched together with plastic string or rope to make an envelope, with an opening left on one corner to insert the vegetables. This fizara was made by artisan Ambia Khatun and later repaired by Nurul Islam after it was damaged.