Mat weaving: Ancient Persian handicraft

With its several-thousand-year-old history, Hasir Bafi or mat weaving is a popular handicraft that is widely practiced in Iran’s Bushehr Province using dried-out leaves and stems.

The main material for weaving mat is plants that grow near the marshes and rivers like leaflets of palm trees, stems of wheat, rye and rice. That is why this craft is more common in coastal villages like Bushehr.

Mat weavers first pick stems that match each other in size and diameter and they soak them in water. Then, they pack three to five of them together by another stem to make a bundle.

These bundles are weaved together to make objects such as baskets, bags, floor covers, wall hang, etc.

The leaflets can be colored in green, blue, violet, and orange using a special kind of ink called ‘Bagham’ or logwood.

The weavers sometimes mix Bagham with turmeric to add to the brightness of the mat.

The motifs of mat weaving are usually made from memory and are geometric and diamonds.

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