Nomadic Weaving: On The Importance of Preserving Kurdish Handicrafts

Nomadism is a part of Kurdish society, and if we look at ancient Kurdish history, we discover that much of the Kurdish nation traces its origins to nomadic tribes and families. Kurdistan, due to its geographic attributes, has historically been and remains one of the best locations for the nomadic lifestyle. Two types of environments, on which the nomadic tradition is based, have existed in Kurdistan. The first is (Garmian) meaning warm regions, inhabited during the colder seasons and the second is (Kwestan), referring to colder regions inhabited during the hotter months. According to their ways of life, nomads have developed a culture of their own. Their ways of life and culture are distinguishable from an urban or rural lifestyle. The art of weaving or embroidery is one of the strong cultural attributes practiced by the nomads. That is not to say that cities or villages do not have their weaving traditions, only to say that the nomadic embroidery differs from theirs.

Accordingly, in academia, weaving is divided into three categories: Urban, Rural, and Nomadic. In this paper, we are only concerned with the nomadic tradition. Of the three types of weaving referenced, nomadic weaving is the most relevant to the Kurds, as it is the type that has been passed down to us the most, and thus gives us the most insight. Weaving refers to anything hand-woven. Weaving, in nomadic societies, was not seen as a commodity or an exchangeable good, because woven products were created as tools needed in daily life. Therefore analyses of nomadic weaving traditions must not solely be conducted through an economic lens.

From a historical perspective, nomadic weaving has been influenced by several factors:

- Life conditions
- The central role of women
- Space and Time
- Celebrations, Joy, Festivities and Sorrows 
- Ideas and Beliefs

Nomads actively seek locations wherein it is spring, and are thus referred to as 'A society of Eternal Spring'. As the climate gets hotter, nomads travel to cool places, and as the weather turns cold, nomads head to warmer regions. In essence, nomads always live in verdant areas during springtime. This practice is rooted in their lifestyle which depends on animals. Nomads seek pastures for their animals to graze on.

The nomadic color palette represents joy and harmony, which distinguishes them from urban or rural handicrafts. Nomadic conditions have influenced their weaving practices. To illustrate, their rugs, kilims, and carpets have been primarily conceived in rectangular, long squares, or triangular shapes to fit into the nomads' tents. Similarly, traversing cold regions and hot regions has made it so that the nomads' color palette is largely warm-toned. Likewise, the wood on which the carpets are woven is flat and must be placed on the ground, as the wooden planks cannot fit into the tents due to the tents' small width and height. This also makes it so their wooden planks are placed vertically on the ground, making it easier to transport them as well. Even so, the nomadic lifestyle has not been easy without weaving. Without weaving, nomadism has been challenging. Weavers have hand-produced everything, from clothing to rugs to tents. This culture of weaving among nomads exists for several reasons. Firstly, nomads are far away from economic centers and modern financial exchanges. Additionally, the lack of rapid transportation, the relationship of nomads to nature, and the abundance of wool are factors that differently influence the nomadic way of life. Handicrafts were used in daily life, which is why their variety ranges from belts, rugs, ropes, and curtains to products made for aesthetic purposes. Most of the nomadic handicrafts are made by nomad women. In contrast to women, we could say that men had a much smaller role in weaving handicrafts. As such, these handicrafts are the carriers of women's spirits and feelings, thus we perceive that women have interlaced cultural sentiments and beliefs in these works.

From ancient times to the present, it is women who have been directly able to practice and preserve weaving; when researchers explore this topic, they must consider this fact and discuss the context, beliefs, social reality, and especially the women of this culture that produce such handicrafts. The handicrafts are the products of a society's conscience, meaning that, any event that has occurred within an era, any belief, religion, or idea has been symbolically expressed in the woven works. Indeed, the weaver in a nomadic society does not begin to weave a rug carpet, or any handicraft without a design concept in mind. Additionally, sometimes the weaver designs something driven by a belief that has been passed down from centuries prior or a belief that is prevalent at the time of crafting.

The majority of the designs in the handicrafts, especially those of nomads, are not simply descriptive or primitive designs. Rather, the handicrafts are driven from designs that have been passed down much like our oral literature; face to face, mouth to mouth. Weaving has been passed down from the weaver to those who learn from them. Or, the designs are the products of a mind, a feeling, a belief of a time in which the weaver existed. That is why, in the academic literature on handicrafts, it is called 'The Thought of Embroidery' about the priority of beliefs and thoughts, with less attention paid to a sense of design. Nomadic handicrafts are not lacking in color, rather, the geographies inhabited by nomads are limited in the types of foliage from which nomads could extract pigments. Also, nomads were far from urban centers so they could not purchase pigments to use in their products. That is why, each tribe used colors and pigments depending on which warm or cool region they were inhabiting in a specific period. In this regard, experts recognize and categorize weavers by their tribe. Weavers from tribes crafted their works according to their standards, traditions, culture, needs, and geography, using their specific colors, methods, and motifs.

In recent years, nomads have been under the influence of global changes, economic progress, and increased trade in their areas. As a result, their cultural and traditional spirit has been dulled to a certain extent. The nomads' neighboring cities and villages produce handicrafts requested by merchants. So, handicrafts have primarily become a commodity, not so much a part of nomads' daily lives. As of now, the number of nomads has decreased and unfortunately, the rate of their local production is also gradually decreasing. Even the usage of handcrafted tents is on the decline among nomads. Handicrafts, due to negligence, have fallen under adverse modern influences and are becoming less creative overall. That is why, a great responsibility which we must shoulder is to recognize the importance of that which has been passed down to us and to preserve this essential part of our culture and prevent its disappearance. We must preserve it and pass it down to future generations. The responsibility we bear in this situation is to preserve this part of our culture by any means, whether it is through research and opening museums, film-making, documentaries, archival work, and any other means available to us.

Unfortunately, as of now, there is no visible cultural institution or museum in Kurdistan that could make a feasible plan for the preservation of these handicrafts in the future. We must find joy in the work of preserving these handicrafts for future generations, so they can make use of them. The current conditions faced by Kurdish traditions and culture require thorough plans and programs that must be implemented before the culture fades entirely. Our society and youth must be made aware of their own culture so that their perceptions have intellectual depth and they take on the task of cultural preservation in the face of the hegemony imposed on our culture. In academic centers, plans must be made to raise awareness and encourage preservation. Advantage should be taken of research conducted by experts, and museums should structurally work on this subject and coordinate with experts. Alarmingly, the majority of Kurdish handicrafts are not serving the Kurdish economy, nor are they in our archives or museums. Rather, they are sold cheaply and fill foreign markets where they are stripped of their cultural identity. As of now, when we are holding this discussion, our neighboring countries' economies rely on handicrafts, especially artificial rugs or carpets. It has been many years now that specialized departments dedicated to the systematic study of cultural arts have opened in universities. In most European countries, in museums, shops, and markets, one could find Kurdish handicrafts that are neglected and cheapened among ourselves.

Finally, any topic that we have briefly covered is worthy of being investigated and analyzed thoroughly, requiring devoted time for us to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of Kurdish culture, so as to prevent it from being misrepresented elsewhere. As such, I hope that hereinafter, people will try to preserve and revive handicrafts and Kurdish culture.

References: 

مێژووی هونەر و کولتوور  بەرگی شەشەم - Arthur Upham Pope

کولتووری عەشیرەکان بەشی کوردستان -Ali Nozarpour   

فەرشە کوردیەکان - Shirin Souresrafil 

کۆڕسکەری(تەونکەر) کوردی، وێنەێک لە هزری خۆی -  Masoud Rahimi

کاریگەری کولتوور و کۆمەلگا-ئایدیای کولتوور -  Terry Eagleton