Aunt Silk; Living human treasure and reviving the silk weaving heritage of the Turkmen people

Efat Moradizadeh, known as “Khale Abrisham”, is a 93-year-old silk weaving artist and a living human treasure living in “Ajneili” village, from Kalaleh city, who taught this art to the young generation, and one can see stories of ups and downs along with perseverance in her.

We passed through the green fields of wheat and canola on the side of Kalaleh road and entered the village of “Ajn Yili” and passing through the wild raspberry bushes on the side of the alleys of the village, we reached the house of “Efat Moradizadeh” from a boy who was riding a bicycle. “, who leads us to a fake house with a beautiful Turkmen accent.

The boy climbs the three stairs of the house to inform the owner of our arrival, I stood in a corner and reviewed my words in my mind, a lady with a scarf and a long Turkmen dress with traditional designs came to welcome me, I went forward and said hello. who openly answered my greeting in Turkmen language, the boy, who I just found out was the grandson of Mrs. Eft, laughingly said, “My grandmother can’t speak Farsi”, asked me for permission to inform his mother, and they also said this. And if they are ready, while I look at the departure of this lady’s kind grandson, the chastity of the lady kindly invites me to have tea.

His old age does not suit his vibrancy and activeness, and as he is busy weaving silk behind the weaving machine, he says: My grandmother taught me the traditional arts of silk processing, dyeing, threading, needlework, and spinning since I was a child. Sal made me indebted to him by transferring this art that was handed down to him from his ancestors.

Efat Moradizadeh added: “My husband died when I was young, and I raised my children alone with the income from the felts, working in the agricultural fields and selling the fabrics I weave from silk.”

In response to how old they are, she laughs and says: “Aunt Jan, I don’t have an age, I’m just starting out, although according to the birth certificate, you should be 93 years old.”

He stated: I raised my three sons and five daughters, who were small children, alone and only with my handiwork such as silk weaving, and my grandmother’s art provided me with halal sustenance.

This lady artist said: I used to weave silk at night until morning, and after finishing it, I went to the nearby villages and sold it at a very low price, and many women wanted to learn this art, and she taught it to all of them with all her heart and soul. I taught

This living human treasure added: Over time, I found many customers from Minodasht, Gonbad, Tehran, Yazd and other cities of Iran and participated in many international exhibitions inside the country.

He leads me to the dresser he has in the only room of his house and lovingly shows me the exquisite and precious silk fabrics, the oldest of which was a small piece of silk fabric from his childhood and also forty pieces from each The silk fabric that the weave has kept as a model for itself and I really saw the love for the work when showing the green, red, blue and yellow colorful fabrics on the face of this kind grandmother.

He said: I made all these fabrics that you see from zero to one hundred by myself, from the silkworms that I raised, the cocoons that I pulled, the silk thread, dyeing, weaving and weaving, and I still want to teach people. I am more

He said: In the nineties, I received many plaques from the organization of cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism, and I was well received for my presence in domestic and foreign exhibitions, but with the spread of the corona virus, it was no longer possible to attend and transfer my knowledge, and I was very sad, my friend. I am going to go to different exhibitions again and have a training along with the introduction of silk weaving for art and culture enthusiasts.

Maria Ishani, the young granddaughter of Mrs. Efat Moradizadeh, says: My grandmother wanted us to follow her path and taught all of us silkworm breeding, silk cocooning, and indirect silk weaving since we were children.

He added: In order to turn silk cocoons into cloth, my grandmother first put the cocoons in boiling water and turned them into cloth with a special device made of wood.

He said: effort, effort, effort was the main characteristic of my grandmother. Sometimes we young people get tired, but she doesn’t know fatigue and can’t bear a moment of idleness.

Ishani added: “A few years ago, when the grandmother became ill and was no longer able to work, they were very sad, but as soon as she got better, they quickly went to silk weaving, and as much as we, the grandchildren, said, “Your years have increased, but this passion, passion and interest is not for my generation.” It is an example that no one will be an opponent of this passion and effort.

Elisa Ishani, the seven-year-old granddaughter of Mrs. Ishani, says enthusiastically: I really want to be like my grandmother and later other people will learn this art from me.

Together with Maria, we go to the house of one of Mrs. Moradizadeh’s daughters, who live in the village, and after passing an alley and children playing on the dirt ground, we reach a small red door, a 50-year-old lady with a beautiful Turkmen charqad and Turkmen clothes. Boland Sabzi opens the door and warmly invites us to his home.

Daulatgol Ishani says: I was not yet 10 years old when my mother taught me the art of silk weaving and ordered me to pass on this art to other women who like it.

He added: “We used to make cocoons and kildan (a device for collecting cocoons) from childhood and turn the cocoons into yarn and dye them, and my mother’s patience and interest may have made us eager to learn silk weaving.”

He said: My mother always insisted that we should learn this art, that after the wedding, you should at least have an art to generate income, of course, silk weaving has many customers and this art is well received, and many interested people want to learn it.

Ifat Khan, who was worried about us, sent his little grandson to follow us to go to him, and after the reception with the semnoi that he cooked on the fire for the intention of Hazrat Zahra (PBUH), he introduced his daughter-in-law, who had just joined us, and said: My nephew, Hamida Khanum Beist. Sal trained by my side.

Hamida Moradizadeh says with a laugh: Since she was a child, Aunt Jan liked to invite the boys and girls of the village to learn silk weaving, and even though they are old, she likes to continue this path and she never gets tired of her work.

He added: In the village of Ajn-Yili, Efat’s aunt was known as “Yofak Daizeh” or Khale Abrisham and she is still known by this name. they recognize.

He said: When they were invited to Tehran during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, we were very happy because after all the efforts they made, they saw the results. My best memory was of their happy and smiling faces.

Abdallah Ishani, son of Efat Moradizadeh, says: Since childhood, my mother was associated with silk and silk weaving, and she had a special perseverance in its production, which is an example for everyone.

Ayesha Nouri Qarai, one of the residents of the village, said: Silk weaving is an art that can be easily learned in a week, and by learning it, housewives can be engaged in employment in addition to raising children and husbands, which fortunately, with the art of the likes of Yufak Daizeh. Most of the village girls learned this art.

Jalil Mohammad Nafsi, another resident of Ajan Yali village, said: There is no one who does not know Khale Abrisham and her art, and she is a role model for many women in the region, and the people of the village and Kalaleh are indebted to her for publishing the art of silk weaving.

Maryam Mansoori, an expert in the registration of works of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Golestan, said: In the field of silk, we issue individual and workshop licenses, and after that, the raw materials and tools are provided to support the artists of the province, and the artists are sent to provincial, national and international exhibitions. They invite international.

He added: Efat Moradizadeh is one of the prominent and famous artists of the province, who, due to his work experience and having done zero to one hundred silkworm breeding, cocooning, dyeing, silk thread and silk weaving by himself and had a very high quality of work, which caused Register them as a living human treasure.

He said: Silk weaving has been particularly prosperous in Golestan province and many artists from the Turkmen, Ghazalbash and Katul peoples are also engaged in this art and this industry has a bright horizon in Golestan.

Efat Moradizadeh, a veteran silk weaving artist, was born in 1308 in the village of Ajn Yali, known as Yofak Daizeh in Turkmen language, or silk aunt, whose name was registered as number 41 in the National Intangible Heritage Honorable List, and he is a living human treasure and bearer of the intangible heritage of the art of silk weaving.