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Thread of Light: Weaving project helps border villagers manage hardship - Video
FEATURES | 26.04.13 | 13:00
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
At the carpet-weaving workshop the smell of the forest is everywhere,
oozing from threads. Colorful bundles hang from the walls over a
workbench from which they are skillfully woven into traditional
Armenian ornaments.
>From sketches the images slide onto the carpet within a few days. The
red ornaments find reflection on equally red cheeks of weaver Lusine.
She ties knots of yarn along the edge, trims the tied knot, then she
tightens the finished row of knots with a long-handled comb, and keeps
weaving and tightening.
`This one will be 52 centimeters long, I have finished 17 centimeters
and will have it ready by the end of the week. So, I weave 52
centimeters in approximately 11 days. In the beginning, when we were
just learning, I could hardly manage a rug per month, now I can make
2-3 per month,' tells Lusine Khachatryan, 38. `We work with love,
especially when the sketch is interesting and works out fine. We are
impatient to finish as quickly as possible to admire the result of our
handi-work.'
The 6-month-old workshop, which has 10 weavers, is located in Getik
village, Gegharkunik province, 120 kilometers from Yerevan. It was
created within the framework of Aramazd social-educational project
through Cross of Armenian Unity (CAU) and Armenian Caritas charitable
organizations.
`The idea belongs to CAU and is financed by Armenian Caritas. We
support border communities, where refugees have settled, by creating
employment opportunities. This is a one-year project, but hopefully it
will continue. Caritas is not only a donor, but also an organization
that shares your pain and tries to find a remedy, or at least
contribute to finding it,' says CAU founding chairman Grigor
Babakhanyan.
The project is carried out in refugee settlements of Gegharkunik and
Shirak provinces and is aimed at community development. In 2010, a
yarn spinning project (traditional way of thread making) was launched
in Gegharkunik province's Dprabak village.
Babakhanyan says in the `palette' of a flock of sheep they found some
7-8 hues of wool, which they don't dye at all, and from that wool they
started producing threads using a natural method - combing it with a
hackle, then winding the yarn on a spinning wheel or a bobbin (spool).
A year later the project transferred to Tchambarak, where training of
women started in carpet-weaving and yarn spinning. Another year later
the project commenced also in Getik.
Zara Aghanyan, leading Aramazd social-educational project, says one of
the most important objectives of the project is the revival of
traditional art of carpet-weaving, hence the choice of communities.
`Many of our compatriots, who have moved from Azerbaijan and settled
in this area, have cultural integration issues. And besides, this is
where many of the carpet-weaving women of Artsvashen have moved to,
and they are the ones now teaching others, reviving the long-forgotten
tradition,' says Aghanyan.
Artsvashen village, 18 km from the eastern border of Armenia and 25 km
from Tchambarak, was the only rural settlement on the territory of
Getabek region which is Azerbaijan's administrative area. In 1989,
battles started in Artsvashen during the armed conflict over Nagorno
Karabakh, and lasted three years till August 8, 1992, when Artsvashen
residents finally lost their settlement. For 20 years now they have
been living in various communities of Tchambarak region.
Project coordinator in Getik Arpine Gyulumyan says during the Soviet
years a branch of Haygorg (ArmCarpet) state entity operated in
Artsvashen village. Women of that village are highly skilled carpet
weavers.
`When this small workshop opened in Getik, many thought it would be
`Artsvashen-2',', says Gyulumyan. `This is a productive project, when
people are not simply given some aid. It is an employment project, as
a result of which jobs have been created, and villagers need that the
most.'
There is a difference between a rug and a carpet: the carpet `song' is
a solo, performed by the thread only, and when weaving a rug several
tools `backup the choir'.
The skillful hands of 28-year-old Hayarpi Verdyan create another
ornament. She says carpets are woven by hand only, no other tool is
used, as opposed to rugs.
`And the progress is much faster, up to 10 cm per day. I finish one
carpet in 4-5 days. A carpet does not allow round-shaped ornaments,
and that is why ornaments on it always have sharp angles,' says
Verdyan.
The payment for weaving 1 square meter of rug is 29,500 drams ($70),
and for carpets it is 18,000 drams ($43).
The rugs and carpets are later put to sale at various expos.
Aghanyan says part of the profit for sale is invested in the next
project, and the rest is used for the development of the given
community.
Getik's head of community Sargis Syunts says the social conditions of
the village keep deteriorating with each passing year; only 300
residents from the former 550 are now left in Getik.
`Such small workshops are like a flicker of light to the villagers,'
says Syunts.
Carpet weaver Lusine Khachatryan is tying another knot, while talking
about the village affairs.
`When at least one person in a family has a job, villagers can carry
on, because food is produced at our homes, we are hard-working people,
we tend to livestock, work the land. If we got lazy who would come and
raise our children?' she says, lifting her eyes from the workbench for
a second. `My three children go to school, and I have to provide
clothes, money for textbooks and copybooks... we sell some of the
livestock, so that the children do not feel deprived, but if there is
another job it covers such expenses, and we can keep our livestock to
develop our household.'
http://armenianow.com/society/features/45642/getik_village_caritas_armenian_carpets
From: Baghdasarian
FEATURES | 26.04.13 | 13:00
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
At the carpet-weaving workshop the smell of the forest is everywhere,
oozing from threads. Colorful bundles hang from the walls over a
workbench from which they are skillfully woven into traditional
Armenian ornaments.
>From sketches the images slide onto the carpet within a few days. The
red ornaments find reflection on equally red cheeks of weaver Lusine.
She ties knots of yarn along the edge, trims the tied knot, then she
tightens the finished row of knots with a long-handled comb, and keeps
weaving and tightening.
`This one will be 52 centimeters long, I have finished 17 centimeters
and will have it ready by the end of the week. So, I weave 52
centimeters in approximately 11 days. In the beginning, when we were
just learning, I could hardly manage a rug per month, now I can make
2-3 per month,' tells Lusine Khachatryan, 38. `We work with love,
especially when the sketch is interesting and works out fine. We are
impatient to finish as quickly as possible to admire the result of our
handi-work.'
The 6-month-old workshop, which has 10 weavers, is located in Getik
village, Gegharkunik province, 120 kilometers from Yerevan. It was
created within the framework of Aramazd social-educational project
through Cross of Armenian Unity (CAU) and Armenian Caritas charitable
organizations.
`The idea belongs to CAU and is financed by Armenian Caritas. We
support border communities, where refugees have settled, by creating
employment opportunities. This is a one-year project, but hopefully it
will continue. Caritas is not only a donor, but also an organization
that shares your pain and tries to find a remedy, or at least
contribute to finding it,' says CAU founding chairman Grigor
Babakhanyan.
The project is carried out in refugee settlements of Gegharkunik and
Shirak provinces and is aimed at community development. In 2010, a
yarn spinning project (traditional way of thread making) was launched
in Gegharkunik province's Dprabak village.
Babakhanyan says in the `palette' of a flock of sheep they found some
7-8 hues of wool, which they don't dye at all, and from that wool they
started producing threads using a natural method - combing it with a
hackle, then winding the yarn on a spinning wheel or a bobbin (spool).
A year later the project transferred to Tchambarak, where training of
women started in carpet-weaving and yarn spinning. Another year later
the project commenced also in Getik.
Zara Aghanyan, leading Aramazd social-educational project, says one of
the most important objectives of the project is the revival of
traditional art of carpet-weaving, hence the choice of communities.
`Many of our compatriots, who have moved from Azerbaijan and settled
in this area, have cultural integration issues. And besides, this is
where many of the carpet-weaving women of Artsvashen have moved to,
and they are the ones now teaching others, reviving the long-forgotten
tradition,' says Aghanyan.
Artsvashen village, 18 km from the eastern border of Armenia and 25 km
from Tchambarak, was the only rural settlement on the territory of
Getabek region which is Azerbaijan's administrative area. In 1989,
battles started in Artsvashen during the armed conflict over Nagorno
Karabakh, and lasted three years till August 8, 1992, when Artsvashen
residents finally lost their settlement. For 20 years now they have
been living in various communities of Tchambarak region.
Project coordinator in Getik Arpine Gyulumyan says during the Soviet
years a branch of Haygorg (ArmCarpet) state entity operated in
Artsvashen village. Women of that village are highly skilled carpet
weavers.
`When this small workshop opened in Getik, many thought it would be
`Artsvashen-2',', says Gyulumyan. `This is a productive project, when
people are not simply given some aid. It is an employment project, as
a result of which jobs have been created, and villagers need that the
most.'
There is a difference between a rug and a carpet: the carpet `song' is
a solo, performed by the thread only, and when weaving a rug several
tools `backup the choir'.
The skillful hands of 28-year-old Hayarpi Verdyan create another
ornament. She says carpets are woven by hand only, no other tool is
used, as opposed to rugs.
`And the progress is much faster, up to 10 cm per day. I finish one
carpet in 4-5 days. A carpet does not allow round-shaped ornaments,
and that is why ornaments on it always have sharp angles,' says
Verdyan.
The payment for weaving 1 square meter of rug is 29,500 drams ($70),
and for carpets it is 18,000 drams ($43).
The rugs and carpets are later put to sale at various expos.
Aghanyan says part of the profit for sale is invested in the next
project, and the rest is used for the development of the given
community.
Getik's head of community Sargis Syunts says the social conditions of
the village keep deteriorating with each passing year; only 300
residents from the former 550 are now left in Getik.
`Such small workshops are like a flicker of light to the villagers,'
says Syunts.
Carpet weaver Lusine Khachatryan is tying another knot, while talking
about the village affairs.
`When at least one person in a family has a job, villagers can carry
on, because food is produced at our homes, we are hard-working people,
we tend to livestock, work the land. If we got lazy who would come and
raise our children?' she says, lifting her eyes from the workbench for
a second. `My three children go to school, and I have to provide
clothes, money for textbooks and copybooks... we sell some of the
livestock, so that the children do not feel deprived, but if there is
another job it covers such expenses, and we can keep our livestock to
develop our household.'
http://armenianow.com/society/features/45642/getik_village_caritas_armenian_carpets
From: Baghdasarian