Carpet Market in Yerevan displaying Carpets from throughout the regions (photo credit Shutterstock Corporate License)
Cultural Attractions
Ethnography Story: Carpet Weaving
In Vayots Dzor, carpet weaving reached the height of its popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today it is less commonly practiced. Traditionally, carpet weaving was done at home rather than in factories. The process begins with the collection of wool. The wool is washed and beaten with a wooden stick to separate the soft wool from matted sections. Once the wool is washed and dried, it is spun on a spindle or spinning wheel and dyed with
Traditional vs. Factory Designed Carpets
During the Soviet era, carpet production shifted from a craft made at home to one produced in semi-formal enterprises called weaving artels. Carpet patterns created in homes were seen as dull, repetitive and even gloomy. Instead, weaving artels began to develop carpet design maps in the 1950s and 1960s that suited more contemporary tastes. While many of the women who worked in the artels continued to also weave personal carpets at home,
Children and carpet weaving
Weaving artels created spaces where future generations of weavers could learn the art of carpet making. As soon as school let out, the daughters of women working in the artels would come visit their mothers’ workplace. Some daughters became so skilled, that they would sometimes be encouraged to work alongside their mothers. One woman who lives in Rind village, recalls that when she was a child her mother showed a section of carpet weaving to the