AZERBAIJAN: Ancient carpet-weaving craft kept alive in mountain village in Azerbaijan.

Record ID: 218114

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Ancient carpet-weaving craft kept alive in mountain village in Azerbaijan.
  • Date: 22nd February 2007
  • Summary: (CEEF) ASTAF, AZERBAIJAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) (GOOD SCENES) WIDE OF SNOW-COVERED MOUNTAIN
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4T3PHEFPT4F7FHSRU1LMSGMR2
  • Story Text: High in the Caucasian Mountains in Azerbaijan, the ancient craft of carpet-weaving has been kept alive by determined villagers who faithfully pass knowledge of the craft from mother to daughter. They produce only for their own needs and don't sell the finely-made carpets. High in the Caucasian Mountains in Azerbaijan, the ancient craft of carpet weaving has been kept alive by determined villagers who faithfully pass knowledge of the craft from mother to daughter. They produce only for their own needs and don't sell the finely-made carpets.
    Carpet weaving is one of the oldest and most popular forms of art in Azerbaijan, and is so highly developed that the usual Western distinctions between the fine arts and the decorative arts simply do not apply.
    The traditional skills of this art have been handed down from one generation of weavers to another for many centuries, and the visual language they employ in their carpets -- the motifs and the colours -- forms an essential part of the culture of Azerbaijan. In the village of Astaf, carpet making is the main occupation for local woman. It is both a job, and a form of socialising, where the women must work collectively.
    "We use lamb's wool," said Agdzha Abdullaeva, a carpet weaver. "First we wash it, then we spin it, and then weave it at the loom, which is usually staffed by the old women and several young girls, our pupils. We explain to them the genius of this craft and how to make carpets,'' said Abdullaeva.
    Carpets are made to meet both aesthetic and utilitarian needs. As an object of household use, which was its main purpose, the carpet keeps the house warm. But anonymous weavers of past centuries produced magnificent carpets and textiles that are now in the collections of the world's greatest museums: the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Louvre in Paris.
    "In spring we gather flowers; grandma knows which flowers give a good dye,'' said Rukhana Abdullaeva, a carpet weaving apprentice. "These natural dyes guarantees that the carpet will never lose its colour, and that it will always be bright. The art of preparing dyes is also something that is passed from one generation to the next,'' said Abdullaeva.
    Azerbaijan carpet weavers use dyes of seven colours, each with varying shades. Over the centuries they have developed compositions of dyes obtained from local plants. Unlike chemical dyestuffs, natural dyes do not erode the structure of wool fibres, but enhance them.
    "Each flower or plant gives its own colour to the carpet,'' said Gumru Mamedova, a carpet weaving apprentice. "For instance, this is chestnut tree. Another carpet has been coloured with dyes made from poppy. These are natural colours and they will always be fresh and bright,'' said Mamedova.
    Early geographers and historians have left valuable accounts of the sophistication of carpet weaving in Azerbaijan, and of the esteem in which Azeri carpets were held by neighbouring peoples. The folk epic Dada Gorgud, written down during the 11th and 12th centuries, gave much praise to the purple carpets of Azerbaijan. And in the 13th century Azeri carpets were admired by the Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo.
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