Afghanistan · Embroidery / Silk Textile
میدانی (Maidani)
Maidani (میدانی) is the silk embroidery tradition of the Hazara people of central Afghanistan — one of Afghanistan's most distinct ethnic groups, whose craft traditions have been particularly targeted in the current conflict. Maidani embroidery uses a counted satin stitch on silk or fine cotton base cloth — producing dense geometric and floral panels in a specific color sequence that distinguishes Hazara work from Herati or Pashtun embroidery. The defining technical knowledge is the color sequence logic: 'each color row is the shadow of the previous one — I add the shadow before I add the light.' Dark before light — always — because the dark defines the form and the light defines the glow.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Afghanistan national ICH list
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