No single standardized local term documented beyond general reference to the craft
The hand-weaving of wool textiles -- rugs and embroidered wedding blankets -- by women of the village of Al Khuter, in what was once ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, just northwest of the Mesopotamian Marshes. In 2019, Iraq was represented for the first time at Santa Fe's International Folk Art Market, where the country's booth featured colorful blankets and rugs made by four named weavers, a milestone directly framed by organizers under the banner 'Culture thrives in PEACE.' The wool textiles represent a direct revival of a craft that was historically part of Marsh Arab culture before the local population was forcibly driven out of the wetlands nearly thirty years earlier by the regime of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, a documented act of retribution following an uprising against his government; today, as local leaders work to restore the land Hussein had drained, they hope also to expand knowledge of this traditional woven art form. The wedding blankets, several feet in length, are constructed from two individual rugs seamed together, and were traditionally created by brides themselves in preparation for their own nuptials. Meridel Rubenstein, a Santa Fe-based artist and photographer, directly helped bring the weavings to the attention of community organizers in the Iraqi marshlands and, subsequently, to the International Folk Art Market itself; her own work in the marshes, originally focused on a wastewater project, led her to discover the region's textiles, which she found were still being produced by elderly women, in their sixties and seventies, in the village of Al Khuter. Rubenstein has directly described the rugs as 'a reflection of people's enduring connection to nature, land, their place, environment and to spirit.' Due to the difficulty of securing travel visas from Iraq, the artists who made the 2019 exhibited weavings were themselves unable to obtain travel approval to attend the Santa Fe market and present their own work in person.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not independently inscribed
The historic harvesting, grading, and trading of natural pearls specifically designated 'Basra Pearls,' a name carrying a documented history dating back to 300 BC.
The hand-crafting of durable, elegant leather footwear in Old Mosul, a profession known as Al-Qandarjiya that has been part of Iraq's identity for centuries, echoing through the city's narrow alleyways in the rhythmic beat of hammers on…
The refining, casting, beating, and niello-decorating of silver, historically centered on River Street in Baghdad, documented as the specific center of Mandaean silversmithing in the city.
A contemporary practice of Arabic calligraphy that moves from the manuscript, the building and the hand-lettered sign into painting: words rendered in many colors against a white ground, blending calligraphy and painting into one form.
The fine hand-joinery and lattice-carving of shanasheel, projecting bay windows built onto the upper floors of traditional Iraqi houses, an Islamic architectural element distinguishing the domestic architecture of Baghdad and Basra since…
The custom tailoring of the dishdasha, a long, ankle-length robe worn by Iraqi men and directly described as far more than a simple choice of outfit: a profound and active expression of cultural identity, connecting the wearer to…
A tradition of basket and wicker weaving from Trentino using willow (vimini) from cultivated osier beds in the Adige valley and rush (giunco) from Alpine wetlands — producing agricultural baskets, domestic containers, and decorative wicker…
The production of bark cloth among Kanak communities of New Caledonia through the harvesting beating and sometimes painting of the inner bark (bast) of the breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis) or fig species.
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The hand-weaving of raffia palm fiber into the ngombi, the traditional single-piece garment of the Fang people, Equatorial Guinea's largest ethnic group.
The pit-loom weaving of striped cotton cloth by male weavers of Mogadishu and the adjacent Benaadir coastal region of southern Somalia, a textile tradition documented continuously from at least the early 14th century to the present.
The weaving and cut-pile embroidery of raffia palm fiber into geometrically patterned prestige cloth by the Kuba Kingdom peoples -- an 18-subgroup Bantu confederacy dominated by the Bushoong -- of the Kasai and Sankuru river region,…