UNESCO recognises Bulgaria's carpet weaving traditions

(25 Jan 2015) Bulgaria's traditional method of weaving carpets has been recognised by UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It means the techniques will now be preserved for future generations. Elderly women work the loom, just as their mothers and grandmothers did before them. This small carpet weaving studio is in Chiprovtsi - a small mountain town in Bulgaria's north-west. 78 year-old Virginia Mincheva says: "We learned weaving since we were small children, along with our mothers and grandmothers. Weaving classes did not exist at that time, everything we learned about weaving we learned at home." Now UNESCO has recognised that proud tradition, which dates from the 17th century. It's included the weaving of Chiprovtsi carpets as part of UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The fabric created, on a vertical loom, is identical on both sides. "Chiprovtsi carpet weaving is a traditional custom, which engages almost all of the women living in Chiprovtsi, with a very few exclusions even nowadays when we live in a world far from what it was in the past," explains Prof. Mila Santova of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies. The intricate patterns often have significance as 77 year old weaver Katka explains: "The little dots are the eyes, here is the candlestick, here are the branches and the necklace here in the middle". At the local school, children take their turn at the loom and learn the traditions that set this region apart from others. As for the men, their job is to make the yarn, washing, combing and spinning sheep's wool. Boris Spassov explains the process: "The wool has to be perfectly washed, dried afterwards, then teased with hands in order to prepare it for the wool combing machine and then to make yarn of it." Women used to spin by hand, but today this process tends to be mechanised. The hope is that the recognition of the tradition by UNESCO will help encourage locals to keep the tradition of Chiprovtsi's hand woven carpets alive. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...