Thank you for my beautiful bilum! It is even better in person. The quality is great and the colours are so vibrant. I can’t wait to get out of lockdown so I can show it off! – Nev

Why do we sell bilums?

This bilum marketplace is one of the ways we raise money for our health and education projects in the remote highland communities of Paigatasa and Gimi in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Women from the communities make a bilum handbag or shoulder bag to earn money to send their children to school – Papua New Guinea does not have free education – or to buy household goods or food or other necessities.

We pay them the amount they individually set to cover their labour, which they set with one eye also on the price the bilum would fetch in the bilum market in Goroka next to the Bird of Paradise Hotel. Every bilum is unique, with women giving their own interpretations of traditional and modern patterns. We also buy the synthetic yarn that is used in bilums like this one. By agreement with the women, we then add on an amount with all profits going to health and education projects selected, developed and managed by the communities. The prices we charge vary with the material used, size and complexity of the design.

Enjoy your visit to our bilum marketplace.

Read the Paiga Story.

Donate to our community developed and managed health and education projects.

What are bilums?

Bilums are over-the-shoulder string bags by made by women in Papua New Guinea using a process called looping, which is similar to crocheting.

Traditionally bilums are made of natural fibres. Grass, leaves, bark, and other plant materials are beaten and scraped till they become fibrous, and then it is left to dry in the sun. Once dried the material is twisted into a long yarn by rolling the fibres with the palm on the thigh. More and more fibre is added to make the string longer. It’s a similar process to spinning wool into yarn but not mechanised.

Mud or crushed flowers and fruits are used to colour the fibres. The yarn is then looped into a variety of patterns with differently sized holes in the final product that allow the bilums to stretch, often to surprising widths. The yarn is also extremely strong. These bilums are often used to carry produce straight from the garden and the holes allow soil to fall out of the bag as it is carried. The colour in these bilums fade with time.

The process of making the fibre bilums is arduous so it’s not surprising that when manufactured woollen and synthetic yarns became common and affordable, women began to make bilums with these yarns as well. Bilums made from the new yarns are not only quicker and cheaper to make, the range of colours available also gives the maker a rich palette from which to create dazzlingly bags. These are more tightly looped, creating a bag in which the contents inside cannot be seen from outside making them popular as ‘town’ or shopping bags. The synthetic yarn doesn’t shrink so the bilums can be washed over and over. The yarns are also coloured with industrial dyes that don’t fade.