Even if the word “kilim” means nothing to you, you can appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of the textiles produced in the Laconian village of Geraki, whose weavers have been winning international awards as far back as the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair.
An exhibition of dowry kilims spanning 300 years at the Benaki Museum’s Ghika Gallery in Athens is one offshoot of a multi-year project from UCLA’s Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture and director Sharon Gerstel to document and share the village’s rich weaving tradition.
The exhibition, Weaving Dreams: Kilims from Geraki, Laconia, shares its name with a preceding publication also supported by SNF that catalogues over a hundred kilims and documents the contexts in which they were produced.
Kilims, handwoven rugs—a word that conveys a much more floor-bound existence than that enjoyed by the textiles in Geraki, which are still hung with pride from balconies in the village on special occasions—have been a well-known specialty of the village since the 1800s.
In 2023, as part of the Gefyra Partnership between UCLA and the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University, graduate students from both institutions and the University of British Columbia conducted interviews with the weavers carrying on the largely matrilineally inherited craft in Geraki. Weaving Dreams and the interview videos build on homegrown efforts in the village to preserve the tradition.
“The commitment of the villagers to recall the long history of Geraki is strong and ongoing,” Dr. Gerstel writes in the book. “The inscription of Geraki’s weaving tradition in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2019 manifests a collective desire to preserve this vital aspect of its history and to emphasize that the village’s long history is the strong foundation of a thriving future.”