Today's presentation of TMA and NERS, by collector Paul Ramsey, was a gallery of images of the nomadic people of parts of Iran, their lives, culture and textile arts. Mostly the captions present enough explanation, so I will refrain from too much commentary.
I got in too late for the zoom room, so I was in the overflow livestream on YouTube, which gave less ability to edit as I went, but I think it came out intelligibly.
They're such handsome people, and dress in great woven clothes. Girls and women are the spinners and weavers, and you'll see them with Turkish drop spindles, working as they walk together.
They use backstrap and vertical looms, very portable, to create the bags used for their biannual treks. This is when they bring animals from summer to winter pastures and back, using camels, horses and mules as pack animals. The bags hold all their possessions safely for the journeys.
I included a couple of images showing how to construct the bags and how the weaving varies, including different structures and knotting. This is in case any blogista fancies trying their hand at it.
You'll see bread baking out of doors, and the portable houses they erect each time they move. This way of life is threatened now by modern society and politics, but for now they live as they have for centuries.
The tea making you see in one image, a mom closely watched by her kids, was part of the hospitality they showed to this presenter. The older boy guided the collector to his home and introduced them.
I really liked the insight Ramsey showed in his choice of images, giving us a few, respectful, glimpses of nomadic life.
Happy day, everyone, I hope you liked this. I found it a good distraction from current doings.
