The traditional Maltese qoffa risks extinction unless something is done to revive interest in the dying trade, according to 81-year-old John Mifsud who has been weaving cane shopping baskets since he was six.

“Apart from me there are just a few old men – I’d say two or three at most – who still make the Maltese qoffa. When we die, it’ll be the end,” Mr Mifsud says, standing in his Ħamrun shop surrounded by a variety of wicker baskets, hats and ħasiri (cane curtains).

“People who learn how to work with cane, nowadays, don’t learn how to make the qoffa. It’s a lot of hard work. You have to hold the cane between your toes and bend over – so you are always working with your head down – and weave the cane with your hands. So your hands are touching your toes,” he says as she demonstrates the manoeuvre with surprising agility.

He then straightens up slowly and explains that it takes him about three hours of that to make a typical Maltese qoffa.

The Maltese qoffa, he explains, can be distinguished from other cane shopping baskets because it is made of local, yellowish cane and has a few lawyers of darker strands. He learnt the trade, which has been in his family for generations, from his father when he was six. Although he has three sons, only one of them does cane work – but not the qoffa.

Mr Mifsud recalls a time when there was a type of wicker basket for everything.

Apart from the qoffa, which served as a shopping bag, there were special baskets to carry strawberries, for bingo, the ones farmers used for vegetables and those used to keep ferrets for the purpose of rabbit hunting.

“When the bikini came to Malta I couldn’t keep up with the workload,” he chuckles.

When the bikini came to Malta I couldn’t keep up with the workload

“Their mothers did not let them wear the bikini. So they used to put it in the qoffa and put a towel over it. They’d wear it later.”

The qoffa took a strong blow when plastic shopping bags took over, he says, adding that he did not believe there was hope of the qoffa ever returning.

This was due to two factors: people no longer use cane shopping baskets and, secondly, those who want a traditional qoffa are not willing to pay €20 since they compare the price to cheaper imports from China. And, he says, the same applies to other types of cane baskets and ornaments made by local tradesmen.

“A basket used for hampers means half a day of work but the Chinese imports are sold for €3 each. I just cannot compete with those prices,” he says.

“It upsets me when I see people willing to pay lots of money for the chocolates and wines inside the hamper but they don’t appreciate the basket,” he says as he massages his sore, swollen hands.

Those who still appreciate the qoffa are a dying breed and mainly consist of elderly women who never changed their ways.

“It’s funny when they come to me and complain that the bottom of their qoffa gave way after 20 years. I ask them if their fridge or washing machine lasted as long,” he says.

Holding on to history

Danielle Borg Cardona uses a qoffawhen she goes grocery shopping. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Whenever Danielle Borg Cardona goes grocery shopping she never forgets to take her qoffa which she describes as an environmentally-friendly, sturdy bag that also allows her to hold on to a Maltese tradition.

“It’s just so convenient. Nowadays, people carry a bag around with them and they are not as sturdy as the qoffa. Besides, you’d be surprised how much you can fit,” she says.

Ms Borg Cardona, 53, says she was always fascinated by wicker baskets. Over the years she built a small collection of baskets, including cane shopping baskets, which she used to decorate at home. Then she started using some of them to go shopping. “I thought: might as well. When I go shopping I put my handbag in it so I only carry one bag and, on my way home, I carry by shopping home in the qoffa instead of a plastic bag,” she says.

She admits that sometimes she gets strange looks from people who are surprised she ‘still’ uses the qoffa.

But then there are others who are pleasantly surprised as the sight brings back precious childhood memories.

“By using them we can help revive a tradition. And it makes so much sense,” she says.

claudia.calleja@timesofmalta.com