WORLD CRAFTS COUNCIL
(WCC AISBL) INTERNATIONAL
Khorashad (Iran)
People of this village produced handicrafts goods including weaving and production of traditional cloth (fabric) from generation to generation along with farming, and livestock husbandry since many years ago. This field of handicrafts has a long history in the village, and has played an important role in self-sufficiency of the people of this region. Traditional cloth weaving (Tobafi) is the skill of producing a variety of traditional cotton or silk cloth (fabric). Today, weaving of traditional towels in the village is done with traditional two or four-piece devices and simple tools like the past. The cloth productions of the village is unique in terms of linen or silk, with the least similarity in the country, and are not comparable with semi or fully industrial woven samples in other provinces in terms of their natural beauty, quality and durability.
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The products of this field have a great variety, and daily applications and are in accordance with the taste of the market, which are technically and artistically completely native with special, and techniques of production. Although it is possible to provide more technical superiority to the pre-production stages of this field by expert studies, the products are in a desirable and acceptable level terms of quality and durability. Due to the constructive work done in this industry, we can say that the future of this art is very clear. The skill of towel weaving in Khorashad village was registered in the spiritual heritage list of Iran with a reference number of 1319 on 2016 December 26th. It is noteworthy that, this handmade art had received national quality badge in the field of towel weaving in 2013 with the number of 1047 / 92280, and in 2017 in terms of wool weaving.
The market of handicrafts products
Woven clothes produced in domestic, joint and in all workshops, have a specifici dentification code for cloth weaving, installed in manufacturing workshops. After collection of the produced clothes from production centers, they will be sent to sales markets including village cooperatives and handicrafts shops at city level, exhibitions held throughout the country and handicrafts stores in the country including Tehran as well as souvenirs and gifts to the cities within the country or outside of the country.These products are also purchased by domestic and foreign tourists and marketing was done in the area of their exporting, approved by the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Also, in some cases, they are offered as gift packages by government and private Offices at conferences.
Production methods, techniques,raw materials, and dying (natural Materials)
The raw materials include silk, cotton, wool and viscose yarn (processed cotton and stick wood).Weaving of a variety of traditional clothes is done by traditional devices as the same as what was done in the past. After passing the chilling stage, the yarn with the desired color, is wrapped up around a little bobbin by a spinning wheel and placed inside the hasp. Simple weaving is done by pressing one of the pedals on the sides to choose the construction of the span of the weaving on the chalk and slamming the shoulder strap and the pressure of the pedal opposite to the shoulder blade.
Technology in the production of traditional clothes can be introduced to the extent that the creativity of the artist and art of his hand are not diminished; therefore, the advanced traditional cloth weaving technologies do not come into this area, and all the tools and stages of production have a historical background. This has priority in terms of preservation of cultural and artistic originality, as well as well-defined benefits, especially in the tourism area with special interests, as important indicators of the plan and preservation of the current status.In some initial stages of work (chilling, screw driving and dyeing),technology can be used to help speed up work, and reduce production costs. In the village of Khorashad, since the past a wheel chuck, made by artists men of the village, was used for chilling unlike other villages that the work was done on the ground and it is time-consuming.