ASIAN TEXTILES - OATG. Oxford Asian Textile Group

21 AFGHAN KUCHISButtons andcoins on aKuchi outfitOnce the Panjsher valley in Afghanistan was populated with Kuchis and their livestock -camels, goats, sheep, donkeys and horses. Their black, low-slung tents, made from goat hair andlocal weeds from rivers, were dotted all up the valley.Kuchis tend to travel in large extended family groups with heavily laden camels (betweentwo to five) carrying tents, pots, water jars, bedding, firewood and materials to trade, etc. The menare dressed in the way of normal Afghans with shalwars and shirts, but the women areconspicuously different. They wear brightly coloured dresses with scarves tightly wrapped aroundtheir upper torso.Younger women, under 30, have their hair parted in the middle and wear brooches or hairclasps on the fringes. Facial tattoos are noted on almost all women, either on the cheeks orsometimes one on the chin and forehead. Their frocks are heavily embroidered and adorned withold coins, beads, glittery laces and cowrie shells. Kuchi dresses are embroidered in an exceptionallyminute chainstitch at points like the neckline, sleeve edges, hem, chest, shoulders and seams.Black is the customary colour for a Kuchi women’s upper garment and it is worn withloose-fitting plain pants. In the gaudy, glittering array of colourful, embroidered dresses and accompanyinglarge jewellery, it is sometimes difficult to tell where jewellery ends and costumebegins.The Kuchi, Pashtun and Baluchi nomads of Afghanistan decorate their clothing with adazzling variety of motifs and materials, especially the bodices of women’s’ dresses. Thesedresses, with their colourful embroidery and abundance of coins, beads, tassels and mirrors arehighly inspirational. For those who can ‘read’ a garment, these dresses tell a tale of the hopes,fears and values of the culture that created it. These messages are also worked into jewellery,where the elements of personal adornment enhance each other.The dress bodices consist of heavy embroidery. Colours and patterns go back to ancienttraditions and entail powerful protective symbols of horns and triangles. Ordinary buttons arestitched on with red wool, sometimes faded by age. The buttons, originally of mother-of-pearl,later plastic ones, signify brightness while the contrasting red wool is used as a highlighter. Red, inmany cultures, is the colour of choice for decorations. It is seen equally often in jewellery: redmaterials such as carnelian or coral are widely used on silver pieces. Together with blue, red is thedominant colour in the region when it comes to jewellery and costume.Blue is also seen in the many small beads that often decorate borders and edges on the bodice,as well as around the buttons. These felt and beaded objects have a very long history and areused throughout Central Asia on clothing and horse-gear.