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One
day a Yürük tribal chief saw a kilim cast on the ground
by a tent. Looking at it brought anguish to his heart,
so he called on his men to find the father of the girl
who had woven that kilim. When the father of the girl
was brought to the tent the chief asked:
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"You have a daughter, don't you?"
"Yes, I do" replied the father.
"As I understand it," continued the chief, "you
want to marry the girl to someone she doesn't want.
She has set her heart on another." |
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At first the father was stunned - how could the chief
know of this - but then his tongue was loosened:"That's true, I'm a poor man and the man who wants
to marry my daughter is rich, so I promised to give
him her hand in marriage. My girl, though, lost her
heart to a poor young man…but how could you know of
this?" |
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The chief pointed to the kilim on the ground saying:"Didn't your daughter weave this kilim?"
"Yes, she did" said the father, to which the
chief replied:
"So I knew about it from the language spoken by this
kilim…I'll give you a horse, a camel, go and marry the
girl to the one she loves. |
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Oh! and tell her this…she
wove it well, but she should put a bit less of a green
accent by the red…as it is, I was almost misled." |
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| (Translated
from "Anadolu'da Kilimler de Konusur", an article
by Dr. Mehmet Onder in issue No. 11 of the magazine "Kultur ve Sanat" published by Turkiye Is Bankasi,
Sept. 1999, Ankara, Turkey.) |
| "The
lore of kilim motifs, designs, colors and their symbolism
is as rich and complex as the combined heritage of cultures
that gave them birth and contributed to their evolution." |
| This
touching, romantic story is a delightful illustration
of the intricate art of communication practiced by the
kilim weavers who are often illiterate in our sense of
the word, but are wonderfully erudite in the language
of kilims. Girls weaving kilims for their dowry chests
use this language to express their hopes for children,
good fortune or a strong and handsome husband, while a
married woman may show her irritation with a prickly mother-in-law
or longing for an absent mate.Ancient tribal allegiance
may also be expressed through symbols whose meanings are
now perhaps forgotten but still kept in designs by some
mysterious impulse of the subconscious. The lore of kilim
motifs, designs, colors and their symbolism is as rich
and complex as the combined heritage of cultures that
gave them birth and contributed to their evolution. |
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| As
kilims gained popularity in the West, scholars, enthusiasts
and rug dealers suddenly became interested in this lore,
making extensive efforts to analyze the various motifs
and designs in order to decipher the language of kilims. |
| Researchers
such as James Opie, Parvis Tanavoli and James Mellaart
investigated symbols found in kilims and proposed differing
theories of their origins and evolution, a way to establish
the etymology of kilim language and a first step towards
its understanding. But, perhaps as might be expected,
the subject proved elusive. |
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| Although
each theory gained its own group of disciples because
in each case some interpretations and conclusions appear
astute and logical, there is much agreement that "...there
is no direct answer or watertight paradigm that organizes
and explains the development and meaning behind the
patterning and motifs found in a kilim." (Quote from "Kilim, The Complete Guide" by Alastair Hull
and Jose Luczyc-Wyhowska). |
| This
lack of certainty, however, has not discouraged scholars
from pursuing the subject further, nor has it restrained
other interested parties from spinning appealing tales
purporting to elaborate the meanings of various symbols
in the context of specific design compositions. |
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| The
latter is often the way of merchants trying to sell
a kilim to an impressionable customer and consequently
these "salesmen's stories" are suspect. But, although
it is a rather unscientific view, perhaps there may
be a place for some intuitive interpretation as illustrated
by the introductory story related above. |
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| An
authentic kilim expert with local roots or deep local
knowledge may seem to concoct interpretations and academics
are bound to demand proof, but proof may not be forthcoming
because this may not be a world of strict empirical
truth but one that includes feelings, perceptions and
an inborn ability to relate on the instinctive level
to the inner world of the weaver. |
| "...kilim
symbols could well be regarded as words or phrases whose
meanings may vary according to their placement in the
pattern..." |
| Viewed
from this imaginative but admittedly unscientific perspective,
kilim symbols could well be regarded as words or phrases
whose meanings may vary according to their placement
in the pattern, changes of color, or slight modification
of shape, much like context, intonation or stress alter
the meaning of words in a narrative spoken in a local
dialect.To
understand it fully, perhaps one needs to be in a community
of spirit attainable only by members of the clan, but
ingrained cultural affinity and the deep empathy of
an adept may well be sufficient to grasp its essentials
and be able to interpret its overall meaning. |
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| This
exotic, cryptic language of the kilim, however, also
works its spell on many people from backgrounds and
cultures very different from those of the weavers, people
who seem to respond to some atavistic chord, grasping
a kilim's essence without being versed in the intricacies
of its symbols and designs. Enlightening us on this
point are the disciplines of psychology and anthropology
which suggest that there is a kind of unconscious unity
among all human beings, a unity often seen in common
archetypal symbols, beliefs and behaviors, and it may
be the response of the individual to some aspect of
this collective unconscious that moves the mind to a
subliminal understanding and instinctive appreciation
of a kilim. |
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| Kilim
symbols, their various names and surmised meanings presented
here are only the bare building-blocks of kilim language.
They acquire depth, nuance and emotional content through
immersion, a process that is thoroughly rewarding since
it brings us in contact with the great inner universe
of our common human ancestry. |
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