A KANDAHAR TRADITION
For centuries, Afghanistan has produced exquisite regional art works, including rugs, pottery, and embroidery. The women of Southern Afghanistan have practiced and perfected one such art form, the rare and unique embroidery called Khamak (pronounced kha-mahk). Girls learn this ancient art form at an early age and continue to practice it throughout their lives.
Inspired by complex Islamic geometric patterns, Khamak is unique to Kandahar and is considered by art experts to be one of the world’s finest embroidery techniques. It is an intricate form of embroidery worked in silk thread, traditionally used to decorate the striking, floor-length shawls worn by Southern Afghan men, as well as table linens, women’s head-coverings, and girls’ wedding trousseaus.
WORKS OF HONOR & LOVE
Traditional Khamak includes natural themes, such as flowers, leaves and trees, embroidered into the geometric shapes of Islamic art. The women of Kandahar Treasure themselves creatively combine natural and geometric shapes to create patterns much like their ancestors did. They are also continuously creating new designs, many of which will be showcased for the first time to the public by their most beloved man (a brother, husband, or son). In Southern Afghanistan, women rely on men to be the exhibitors of their fine art, and men have naturally learned to “show-off” publicly the gorgeous, embroidered work on their attire.
In Kandahari culture, flowers are highly favored in every way of life, from planting them in home gardens, to creating them with Khamak on everyday clothing for men, women and children, to naming children after flowers and giving elders the title of certain flowers. Some of our elder artisans are called Bibi Gula, meaning “Saint of Flowers,” and one of our young artisans is named after a bouquet of flowers, Gul Dasta.
To honor the women and girls who create these intricate designs, Kandahar Treasure has begun a formal process of crediting each style of work with a name of a woman. Gul Dasta, a common woman’s name, is now a design style of one of our most popular scarves.
STITCHING HOPES & DREAMS
Through the refinement of her stitches, the Kandahar woman expresses her innermost desire for aesthetic beauty. Hajira describes this in her own words: “…Doing Khamak gave me the peace that I needed. Through creating beautiful designs I would divert my mind to calm myself down, and the end result of finishing a beautiful work of art would give me the satisfaction that I needed.” Afghan women stitch their hopes, dreams and desires into embroidery as they grow in financial independence and respect through their work.
SUSTAINING THE ART OF KHAMAK
Kandahar Treasure is sustaining Khamak embroidery by making it available to domestic and global buyers. The value of our work has been recognized by international textile experts and given the title of “heirloom” pieces. Our loyal customers encourage and motivate us to continue propagating this beautiful and rare textile tradition while empowering women artisans.
Since its inception, Kandahar Treasure has provided working opportunities to over 1,000 women who not only preserve the tradition of Khamak but also sustain their families through their needles. Kandahar Treasure helps build Afghanistan’s economy by contributing to its infrastructure of production and marketing and empowers women to lead their families into a more peaceful and prosperous future. Kandahar Treasure is weaving a thread between the past, present, and future of Afghanistan.
From Embroidering Within Boundaries by Rangina Hamidi and Mary Littrell. Schiffer Publishing, 2017. Photographer, Joe Coca.
CREATING THE ART OF KHAMAK
While it is not our intent to give instructions for how to do Khamak, it is important to understand the skills it requires, the challenges it presents, and the inherent value it contains. A glance over a completed piece of khamak embroidery does not justly express the many steps and decisions required in completing an art piece.
The yoke in the above picture could be made for a baby boy’s garment. To complete the design, you will need a piece of fine fabric with a thread count of 144 to 160 or more, that is 72-to-80 warp threads and an equal number of weft threads per inch. You will need embroidery thread as a fine slick rayon or silk untwisted floss.
First, you will determine a lower midpoint from which all of your embroidery pattern will start and extend from. The artisans never sketch their design onto the fabric prior to embroidering, so the pattern of your design must be in your mind. You begin to count the stitches you make onto the fabric. Yes, you count thread by thread from your midpoint to the first boundary point. From that point, you work diagonally to create the first leg of a diamond, and so your work proceeds, dividing your fabric into perfect shapes, the boundaries within which you will create beautiful designs. Once the framework is complete, a small motif is stitched into the center of each diamond. Then more motifs fill in the next largest area until the remaining areas are completely filled with other motifs.
From Embroidering Within Boundaries by Rangina Hamidi and Mary Littrell. Schiffer Publishing, 2017.
