The image of Nelson Mandela wearing a mokorotlo (the traditional Basotho hat) and kobo (Bashoto blanket) is timeless: the image of the great man wearing the supreme symbol of Lesotho, the handwoven and ubiquitous straw Basotho hat, speaks of the power of objects to be both functional extensions of our body and collective symbols. Mokorotlo and kobe are important everyday objects in Lesotho because the weather conditions change from blazing sun during the day to chilly breeze after sunset. But the handwoven conical hat trascended its intended function to become a national symbol, so powerful that in the past was part of the blue, white and green Lesotho flag: how powerful and socially accepted must the shape of an object be to become the symbol depicted in the national flag? The form of this object was also directly translated into a mokorotlong -in Masaru, a handicraft center. This translations from object to building, from utilitarian thing to symbolic cultural icon, from hand-woven to team-built, pose the question of the multiple facets of form and the social value of accepted form as a signifier and an element of cohesion and national identity. It is hard to infer that sort of reach from the humble shape of the mokorotlo hat, a shape that is similar in other parts of the world, other cultures that also adapted the cone to create hand-woven hats. But a hand-crafted object becoming a national symbol speaks volumes of the local priorities.
