Project description
Exploring the Zoroastrian women's silk weaving tradition
Zoroastrian women in Iran have upheld the tradition of silk weaving for centuries, passing it down through intergenerational transmission. In 2022, UNESCO included Iran’s ‘sericulture and traditional production of silk for weaving’ in its world heritage list. Chinese silk made its way to Iran through the Silk Road, with Zoroastrian women playing a pivotal role in preserving the intangible heritage associated with silk textiles. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the DocZow project aims to investigate the intergenerational transmission of silk weaving among Zoroastrian women, examining its social, cultural and religious dimensions, as well as how Zoroastrian women transformed this non-native product into a symbol of cultural identity.
Objective
"Zoroastrian women's silk weaving has all the characteristics of intangible cultural heritage; because it is both traditional, contemporary and alive at the same time, which has been continued through inter generational-transmission. For this reason, this project complements Iran's global registration under the title ""Sericulture and traditional production of silk for weaving "" by UNESCO in 2022.
Chinese silk was imported to Iran through the Silk Road in the Sassanid era, and it led to the establishment of silk textile workshops to supply silk textiles inside and outside of Iran.
The official religion during the Sassanid era was Zoroastrianism, but from the beginning of Arab Muslim rule until today, few Zoroastrians have remained. The non-alphabetic language of Zoroastrians is called Dari-Behdini and half of the speakers are Zoroastrian women, who played the role of bearers and preservers of intangible heritage, oral literature and traditions related to silk textiles from the Sassanid era to the contemporary period and localized the heritage of Chinese silk using the positive aspect of Cultural appropriateness and founded a new form of it.
The silk textiles of Zoroastrian women are important from social, cultural and religious aspects:
1-The producers and consumers of silk textiles are only women and women have spread and taught it through inter generational-transmission until today. Women have not only been highly successful in retaining and transmitting traditional methods and practices, but also in adapting them in innovative ways with high levels of technical competency.
2-Although silk is a non-native product that came to Iran from another culture, Zoroastrian women turned silk textile products into their cultural capitals and used it as a symbol of cultural identity.
3-Although silk dyeing and using it is associated with obstacles based on the importance of purity in Zoroastrian religion, but until now, it is used as the only type of Traditional clothes."
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
1165 Kobenhavn
Denmark