Textiles from the Windows' Captial of the World

19 apr 2008
4 mei 2008
  • Lloyd Hotel
  • Oostelijke Handelskade 34, 1019 BN Amsterdam Amsterdam

Kabul is said to be the widows' capital of the world, with an estimated 50.000 war widows, a large majority of whom have to scrape along for a living. One of the NGO's that helps them is Zardozi, the most established handicraft project in Aghanistan. In the Zardozi shopping mall, embroidered shawls, table linens, purses, dolls and apparel made by Afghan women can be admired and bought.

At the Dutch Design Week last year, we came across the stand of Strawberries Fabrics and were impressed with its embroidered fabrics. Their hand made pure cotton comes from Zardozi. The NGO supports the female artisans to find markets for their handicrafts by helping them to improve quality whilst preserving age-old traditions.

Next to fabrics, carpets, 'suzanis', and 'chapans', the traditional Afghanistan coats (like the ones president Karzai wears) are shown.