Shawl weaving in Sistan is a 5,000-year-old art

The Director General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Sistan and Baluchistan said: Cloth weaving in the Sistan region is more than five thousand years old and the piece of handwoven cloth discovered in the burnt city is proof of this claim.

Alireza Jalalzaei pointed out that throughout history, humans have used various fibers to cover themselves, which led to the creation of textures and clothing, and stated: Fabric textures are obtained from plant or animal fibers, and their length is obtained during spinning. It should be enough to be able to contract them on top of each other and form a continuous and strong leaf.
He said: Shawl with a checkered pattern is one of the special products of Sistan textile weaving, which is often made to order, in this regard, the most colors used in these textiles are black, white, cream, brown, dark colors and often dark colors.

Traditional movement of the words, weaving machine with feet

This official stated that the criteria for measurement and selection of yarn in woven fabric are coils and spindles, which are purchased by weight, adding: the craftsman chooses the type of yarn, colors and desired thickness according to his needs, the value of the product depends on the quality of the produced product, and when It depends on the texture, the finer the work, the more valuable it is.
He considered the machines used in this art in the Sistan region to be two weaving looms, which are traditionally and often made by the artists themselves, and unlike other weaving machines in the country, where the looms are moved by hand, they are moved by feet.
The director general of the cultural heritage of the province stated that the tools used in this field are only spindles and scissors, and clarified: the spindles are often made of wood and scissors are ordinary scissors. until the tissue is firmly in place.
He stated that spinning is a difficult and apparently endless task that is usually done by all members of the family, and said: Today, since machine-spun wool is more economical, it is used in many carpets and rugs.
Jalalzaei considered the most common method of spinning with a spinning wheel and stated: A spinning wheel made of a long wooden rod with ridges and sharp points on both ends is used by the elderly of the Baloch tribes, Kyrgyz and Kurds of eastern Turkey.
In the continuation of his speech, he stated that the history of fabric weaving in human civilization goes back to millennia BC, and emphasized that: fabric or covering is one of the basic needs of human beings, and during different periods of history, its production methods or its production types have ups and downs. It has been so that in the burnt city, a considerable number of various wooden, clay, clay and metal weaving and spinning tools were found, which indicated the existence of the weaving industry in that era, as well as amazing examples of fabric found.

Self-sufficiency of the people of Sistan in the production of raw materials

This official said: “Certainly, what is strange and questionable for archaeologists is the texture of such fabrics with such quality and such types of colors, among them, samples that are very close to traditional fabrics in terms of design and even coloring, recently woven fabrics in Sistan The braids are often brown and cream in color; But more than several cases of durang fabrics made of wool and cotton have been dealt with.

He continued: In the path of the art of weaving, what is known and known from the millennia before Christ is the self-sufficiency of the people of Sistan in the production of the raw materials of handicrafts of Sistan, especially weaving, so much so that until this last century, all the stages of its preparation and production were carried out by the people themselves. families have been done.
The general director of the cultural heritage of the province noted: from the stage of planting and harvesting cotton or preparing wool and animal hair to spinning and preparing them, all of which were done with traditional and special tools.
He admitted: during the time of Omar and Laith Safari, the cloth that was woven for the Kaaba was prepared in Sistan for many years; Another point is the proximity of the recent weavings to the weavings found in the burnt city that have remained until now.
Jalalzaei said: Sistan’s traditional textile products include lang (handkerchief), serik (carrier), blanket, shawl and cloth.

In the other part of his speech, he pointed out the major damage caused to this art and continued: the market of these products is strongly affected by the machine samples that are sold at low prices, in addition to the lack of access to raw materials due to the recent droughts in the region. Lack of sufficient training, lack of prototyping and application of products according to the needs of today’s market and the existence of only one craftsman in this field are among them.
This responsible official emphasized: protective measures have been taken in this area, including the training of textile weaving to more than 40 students since the beginning of the revival of the said field, and the possibility of using facilities for textile students, including them.
He further pointed out the suggestions and solutions for protection including identification, documentation, research, maintaining the status quo, support, promotion, promotion and restoration for the whole subject and related tools and objects and places and added: creating a suitable sales environment in the domestic markets. and foreign, guaranteed purchase of products, providing new and new roles while maintaining authenticity and local culture in order to attract customers, making available cheap raw materials to producers, preparing promotional brochures and booklets, holding scientific and specialized conferences and meetings, among other measures goes.