IRAN ART EXHIBITION: MAT WEAVING HANDICRAFTS ARE MORE COMMON IN SOUTHERN CITIES OF IRAN
Hasir Bafi, or mat weaving, is one of the oldest fields of handicrafts in the Iranian plateau. It is not known when and where this craft was first invented. But archeologists have discovered traces of mat weavings on plaster pieces that belong to six thousand years ago.
The oldest piece of Hasir in Iran belongs to the Shahdad region of Kerman province. Mat weaving, which is wearing thin reeds through cotton yarns, has not changed from ancient Egypt until today.
Depending on the geographical environment, the raw material of Hasir in different parts of Iran are: leaflets of Date trees, leaflets of Wild Date trees or Porak, female Wild Date or Daz, stems of reeds from tropical lagoons of Khuzestan, cold regions of Zarivar lake, Anzali lagoon, lands surrounding Hamun Lake, wheat stems from provinces of Zanjan, Azarbaijan, etc.
The tools of Hasir Bafi are very simple and limited including sickle, file, scissors, needle, and stitching awl. This art-craft is common in provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman, Yazd, Fars, Mazandaran, Gilan, and Tehran.
To weave a mat, first stems that match each other in size and diameter are picked and soaked in water. Then three to five of them are packed together by another stem. These bundles are weaved together to make objects such as baskets, bags, floor covers, wall hang, etc.
Mat weaving has been one of the most ancient hand-woven arts of human beings, which were supplied by weaving herbal fibres into each other. The artistic taste of the weaver and utilisation of different pigments adds to the variety of these plain products. The historical precedence of the utilisation of herbal fibres to supply the requirements of the daily life is even older than the textile industry, so that the people in each region, according to the herbal coverage of their environment, have become skilful in one branch of herbal handwoven objects such as basket weaving and mat weaving.
As one of the most ancient manual industries of Khoorobiabanak, mat weaving has been done there since long ago as a secondary profession beside the main job of agriculture. The existence of large gardens of palm trees in this region has caused mat weaving to be known as a native profession in this township.
The mat weaver uses two types of date leaves: the newly grown leaves, used for delicate fine products, and the old ones. The mat weaver picks the date leaves and dries them in the sunlight. Having completed this process, s/he then puts the leaves in water and dyes them in different colors of green, red, and blue. Then depending on the desired type of weaving, the damp and wet leaves are woven together. The delicate fibres which are brown and are grown around the palm are used for some weavings such as rope and doormat. Among other mat woven products are fan, hat, mat carpet, sweep, basket, doormat, dates containers and locally made ropes.
IRAN ART EXHIBITION: With its several-thousand-year-old history, Hasir Bafi, or mat weaving, is one of the oldest handicrafts. It is not known when and where this craft was first invented. The oldest piece of Hasir in Iran belongs to Shahdad of Kerman province. Mat weaving, that is wearing thin reeds through cotton yarns, has not changed from ancient Egypt until today. Booria Bafi, that is a kind of mat weaving, is still considered an important craft and is used as the roof cover of clay houses. Therefore, Hasir Bafi, which also includes Bambo Bafi and Morvar Bafi, is a very ancient craft and include products woven by leaves, stems and foliage of plants. Since parts of plants are used in it, it is considered as the first products of human that was created with the beginning of sedentary lifestyle and agriculture.
Depending on the geographical environment, the raw material of Hasir in different parts of Iran are: leaflets of Date trees, leaflets of Wild Date trees or Porak, female Wild Date or Daz, stems of reeds from tropical lagoons of Khuzestan, cold regions of Zarivar lake, Anzali lagoon, lands surrounding Hamun Lake, wheat stems from provinces of Zanjan, Azerbaijan and etc. The tools of Hasir Bafi are very simple and limited including sickle, file, scissors, needle and stitching awl. This art-craft is common in provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman, Yazd, Fars, Mazandaran, Gilan and Tehran. In Khuzestan, Hasir Bafi is common in forms of weaving baskets, mat weaving and Booria Bafi. Generally, there are two kinds of weave: twisted or netted. Today we can find Hasir Bafi in any place of Khuzestan where leaflets, reeds and stems are available. Cities of Abadan, Shadegan, Dasht-e Azadegan are the centers of this product. This kind of mat weaving is used to make shutters to be hanged over the windows in urban buildings. Nomads use them to cover their tents and also make nests for their chickens and goats. Booria or floor covering mat is another product of Khuzestan that is weaved by leaflets of Date trees and is also made from common reeds that grow wildly in this region. They are used as both floor and roof coverings. They are arranged on the beams of roofs of the buildings and then covered by building material. Booria Bafi is done only by men.
Hasirbafi or mat weaving is a kind of ancient handicraft that is widely practiced in Iran’s Bushehr province using certain dried-out leaves and stems.
This craft is more common in coastal villages and riversides because the principal material for it is wildling plants that grow near the marshes and rivers.
In many regions, stems of wheat, rye, rice, and leaflets of palm trees are used to weave the products, too. There are plenty of material resources in Bushehr which is bounded by the Persian Gulf. That is why mat weaving has long been one of the most popular handicrafts of the southern province.
To weave a mat, first stems that match each other in size and diameter are picked and soaked in water. Then three to five of them are packed together by another stem. These bundles are weaved together to make objects such as baskets, bags, floor covers, wall hang, etc.
The leaflets can be colored using a special kind of ink called “Bagham” or logwood. Bagham is available in colors such as green, blue, violet, and orange, and sometimes the weavers mix them with turmeric to add to the brightness. The motifs of mat weaving are most commonly made from memory and are geometric and diamonds.
IRAN ART EXHIBITION: Mat-weaving is undoubtedly one of the oldest and perhaps the oldest type of handicraft. The samples found in Mesopotamia and Africa indicate that mat-weaving and weaving of baskets are the origin of textiles and pottery. Professor Arthur Upham Pope believed that humans initially made use of straws and plants that grew in Mesopotamian marshlands in order to make something similar to a mat which is considered as the first step for humans to gain access to methods used for the production of rugs.
Hence, it can be said that the primitive rugs were made of mats and regardless of caves, the very early shelters were created using mats and straws.
One will come across people weaving mats and baskets in different parts of Iran particularly in the northern and southern parts of the country wherever palm tree leaves and wheat straws are available.
