Media logo
Georgia

In Pictures | Fighting to save the art of Borchalo carpet weaving in Georgia

Photo: Tata Shoashiashvili/OC Media.
Photo: Tata Shoashiashvili/OC Media.

Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence.

For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is  afraid will get out.

Help us fuel Aliyev’s fears — become an OC Media member today

Become a member

The Kajarova sisters, 68-year-old Fatma and 72-year-old Tukazban, have been helping their grandmother weave carpets since childhood. The sisters have lived their whole lives in the village of Kosalar, located in the southern Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli.

Fatma Kajarova. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Tukazban and Fatma Kajarovas. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Tukazban Kajarova. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

The Borchalo carpets they weave are made only in Kosalar and the village of Iormughanlo, in the neighbouring Kakheti region — only a few dozen women carry on the carpet weaving tradition.

‘I was six years old when I first helped grandma [make carpets]’, Fatma told OC Media.

Weaving carpets by hand is a long and laborious process, with the average carpet taking at least two women working between one and two months — the difficult nature of the work means the tradition is left almost solely in the hands of the elderly. 

‘There are now very few women left in our village who weave carpets, and it’s very rare for anyone from the younger generation to be able to make a carpet from start to finish’, Fatma said.

Borchalo carpets have a centuries-old history in Georgia, and are decorated with unique and complex symbols to express a variety of often abstract concepts such as the strengthening of the family, its protection, or even migration.

Related Articles

Irakli Zarkua. Official photo.
Georgia

Georgian Dream MP proposes dismissal of ‘destructive’ ambassadors from Georgia

Avatar

Georgian Dream MP Irakli Zarkua has proposed expelling foreign ambassadors critical of the Georgian government, with particular emphasis on German Ambassador Peter Fischer. Zarkua criticised foreign ambassadors on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in parliament. ‘This is my subjective opinion: ambassadors who are being destructive, replacing radicals and acting against the state, I believe they should be expelled’, he said, according to IPN . He first listed British Ambassador Gareth Ward a

Most Popular

Editor‘s Picks