Light on a Basket Case Study. Photo, creative direction, digital editing by a_nose_knows for source adage i’khana.
Ask anyone, “what did your grandmother smell like?” and—unless they have none or they were born incommensurably, starkly, rich—they’ll have an answer ready, born of gentle light and close stillness: fabric. geraniums. dough. dry leaves. whey. yarn. camphor. soot. quince jam.
They won’t ask you “which grandma?”, either; somehow, all of us who grew up in two-family tribes have GRANDMA, and we have The Other Grandma. We, here, won’t speak of The Other Grandma; she is not as big, lively, or warm in our lizard brains; she carries no weight in our memories, nor special aromas in our olfactive heart. In any case, not like GRANDMA does.
Kid in a Choktaw basket. Creative direction & digital editing by a_nose_knows for source adage i’khana.
Many millennia have passed since the dawn of early civilizations, and all were made possible by Grandma; she delivered you, she cleaned you, she fed you and she rocked you; she watched over you during hunts and harvest; she hid you through hordes’ raids and kept you spoiled, fat, and happy. She taught you oral tradition and cultural syncretism (fine, she didn’t really call them that, but that’s what they were); she wept when you went away and cried of joy when you came to visit; she nagged, begged, guilted, and revered you all at once. And, more importantly, she kept you at her feet with stories and songs while her hands, never resting, worked on something useful.
Choctaw basket diagonal pattern. Creative direction & digital editing by a_nose_knows for source adage i’khana.
To generations next, this may be yet the biggest source of difference, and, too, the biggest loss: the quiet time spent at the feet of Grandma, when the body stilled and the mind rested on her words; the witnessing of life’s toolings; the reverence in front of a handiwork finally done. Depending on how fast the hands or how slow the story, it’d sometimes be an afternoon to mend a sail; a week to darn and knit a sweater; a month to weave a carpet… or, if you’re a Choctaw and double-weave, a humble-but-glorious harvest basket.
source adage collection. Digital editing by a_nose_knows for source adage i’khana.
Reeds. I think of reeds when I open i’khana, river reeds and canes and cattails and papyruses and slender grasses, much like those my own Grandma used to collect and soak with herbs, then strip thinly and finally bend to her will. This particular nuance is one of the hardest to explain, as it gathers both the marshy feet of such flora, and the desiccated cobs of seeds up top, fluffy like cotton and dry enough to combust, spontaneously, under the summer sun.
The next layer, grassy as it is, builds up the body; the flowery layer, slight and citrusy, roots the composition firmly into smooth; the zesty hesperidic accords give it shine.
The fragrance is natural and clean, easy and functional, and elevated in the same way craft—when done with patience and love for itself—makes art. And thus, somewhat light and somewhat ready for harvests sits i’khana, in a rare case —at least, in perfumery—of practical comfort, making use of simple elements to construct a structure that can be filled, upon one’s own preference, with whatever suits your taste.
Yes, like a basket. A very expensive one you might have seen on Antiques Roadshow. A double-weave one which a Grandma, somewhere in this world, spent months to make while weaving stories of light for the ears of wee children.
Notes: grapefruit rind, lime, pink pepper, coconut, musk, cardamom
Other perceived nuances: reeds/papyrus, vetiver, citrus flowers, marine accords, shells, sweet basil, wild rice, ocre, cedar, ginger
Disclaimer: i’khana shortlisted by me and provided by the company for my review. Thank you so much.
– dana sandu, Editor
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