Тъкачките и художниците. За отношенията между неспециализирано и специализиране художествено творчество
Weavers and Artists. Relations of Specialised and Non-specialised Art Creation with one Another

Summary/Abstract: The work focuses itself on the production of carpets in Chiprovtsi – a famous Balkan textile centre, known as such still in the XVIII c. and XIX c. Even today almost every house in the town produces carpets with traditional outlooks – motifs, composition, colours. The investigation, serving as a basis for the article, proves that present day weavers in Chiprovtsi obey an inner differentiation and hierarchy, based on technological skills. Field work data certifies for the fact that weaving abilities are learned from the elders, as it is typical for the depersonalised creativity. Thus, the weaver creating a carpet relies on her routine knowledge about anthropo-technical movements and technological principles, as well as on her conscious efforts to increase skills and knowledge of cultural technology. Processes of visualisation result in an image production, re-actualising cultural concepts, already busy in circulation within the weavers’ community. Recently this stable scheme is often shaken and even gives way to autonomous creativity. The tendency is strengthened by contacts between weavers and artists, dating back since the 1960s. Interrelations with one another are ambiguous, and they have already changed the concept of the object of visualisation – today the weavers produce not only carpets, but textile icons and tapestry as well. Nevertheless, general evaluations still remain highly dependant on traditional criteria of craftsmanship.

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