Tassels and Beadwork

History
• Between Chitral, Pakistan and
Nuristan, Afghanistan in the
northern Pakistan-Afghanistan
border region lies a valley
that’s home to the Kalash tribe
them being the descendants of
the soldiers of Alexander the
Great.
• In a community of 4000
people, about 100 are artisans,
still practicing their ancient
craft of backstrap weaving.
Origin
• In Kalasha culture, love, poetry, Shamanism
and spirituality relate to the Greek God, Pan.
• Speaking of their traditional outfits, women
wear black gowns decorated with flower
arrangements in neon threads and hand-
woven belts. They embellish this with beads,
cowry shells, buttons and metal ornaments,
and wear headgear called shushat. Formal
headgear called kupas is worn on special
occasions.
Technique
• The process of weaving starts
with sheep shearing, which is
done with hand shears.
• The fleece is removed in one
piece. Second cuts are made
to produce short fibres.
• The wool is then cleaned to
remove any vegetable matter,
such as sticks and straws.
• Lanolin is removed by hand
washing and drying, followed
by spinning and combing.
• Fibres are used to produce
unique artefacts—however,
the Kalash lack market access.
• The traditional process of natural dying
uses dyes extracted from walnuts,
pomegranate, turmeric, henna etc.
• Nowadays, the community uses a mix
of synthetic and natural dyed yarn.
Impact
• The main challenge is to
maximise the benefits to the
community and minimise its
effects on the environment.
They are in the process of
setting up a social enterprise
that would bring the Kalash
textile products to the
international market.