Kilim
Kilim (gelim, Kelim) is a kind of flat-woven rug used chiefly as covering for floor as well as household items.
Used in the Western languages, ‘kilim’ is the Turkish pronunciation for the Persian ‘gelim’. Kilims are woven either on horizontal or vertical looms. The structure encountered on Kilims is a form of plain weave referred to as tapestry weave.
Tapestry weave produces a simple textile structure in which wefts are interlaced horizontally with warps that are tautly stretched vertically on a loom. Unlike piled rugs, in flat-woven pieces, wefts are solely responsible for the creation of design. This produces normally the same design on both sides of a textile.
Kilims could be woven by both villagers and nomads. Moreover, some fine-woven kilims have remained from the 16th century Tabriz, Isfahan and Kashan representing a royal type of kilims.
Nomadic kilims are designed chiefly with geometric motifs, some of which are extremely stylized versions of floral motifs used in piled rugs but a great majority of them have purely tribal rectilinear ornaments with Turkic and Kurdish origins.
Although Kilim weaving is a common practice all over the Orient, the majority of kilims appears to come from a region stretching from the Caucasus and along the Zagros Mountains to the Persian Gulf as well as centers in Central Asia, Anatolia and Balkan.
Among Iranian Kilim-weaving centers these could be mentioned: Hashtroud, Bijar, Zarand, Talesh, Qazvin, Varamin, Sanandaj, Bakhtiari, Qashqai and Shushtar.
These centers concentrated mostly in the western Iran. In eastern provinces kilim weaving is chiefly attributed to Baluchs and Turkmens. This could be said also about these ethnic groups in western Afghanistan.
Van, Malatya, Erzurum and Kars in eastern Anatolia have reputation for Kilims amongst Turkey’s weaving centers. Konya in the center and Karapinar at the Aegean shore, too have their own type of Kilims.
Each of these centers have its own characteristics in weave, design and materials. Some Kilims are completely woolen while others have cotton warps.
Generally Kilims are woven by women without any loom-drawing and with motifs and designs representing their hopes and fears for their family.
Kilims have originally various usage. Besides floor covering, they could be used as prayer rug, saddlebag, salt-bag, hanging, etc. they could also be simply a decorative item.
Because of their colorful and vivid designs, kilims have found their ways into modern interior designs in recent decades. Moreover, kilims are more economic options in comparison to piled rugs while they enjoy the same artistry.
