Carpet Weaving from Afghanistan

Resources
Video see website
Millennium Development Goals Activity
Small handloom
Afghan Carpet patterns
Islamic Designs

Activity Plan
Show pupils the video about the work of Afghan Action in Kabul. This video
shows views of the carpet workshop and has interviews with the trainees.
You can run the Millennium Development Goals Activity here. This activity is
downloadable from the website. Pupils learn about the MDGs and carry out an
activity which evaluates how Afghan Action is helping to meet them.
Have a look at the pattern used for carpet design in the Resources- Art section of
the website. Each tiny square is a knots tied by hand. In Afghanistan carpets
are made by tying individual knots of different colours to make patterns. The
video shows the speed the trainees work at. After a row of knots has been tied
across the loom these are held in place by a weft (horizontal) row across the
warp threads of the loom.
We bought our looms from Great Art (online) at very reasonable prices.
Students can research Islamic patterns online, from books, or from carpet
designs to create their own design for a carpet.