The ajaka is a carrying basket about 35cm across, twill-plaited from split takuara bamboo. Half the strips stay honey-coloured; the other half are darkened in mud and soot, or swapped for guembepi, the aerial root of the imbé vine. Run against each other on the diagonal, the two tones throw animal and geometric figures straight out of the weave.

Nothing is applied afterwards. A motif has to be counted into the plait, and it can only turn where a strip crosses — so every edge steps at 45°. Each figure carries an oral narrative, which is why the basket is read as much as it is used. This system treats pattern as content, never as garnish.