Khamak is a distinguished

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...

artwork from

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

. Embroidery is the usual practice for household textiles by women artisans in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Khamak consists of very complicated designs than other techniques (Such as Gul dozee which is an easier stitch pattern embroidery). They use delicate silk satin stitches on fine woven cloths of cotton or wool fabrics.

Name

Khamak is also called Khamak dooze or Kandahari means ‘Kandahar’s work,’ Khamak is a word of

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

language.

Artwork

Khamak is one of the intricate embroidery forms consisting complex natural and geometric designs in repetitive or multiple patterns incorporating a combination of stitch patterns and techniques which demands high skill artisans. For women in Kandahar the embroidery is a

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

skill. It is their

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

activity besides weaving and sewing.

Use

The Kandahari ( Khamak) is mainly used for decorating

pashtun clothing As a chiefly rural and tribal population, the Pashtun dress of Afghanistan and Pakistan are typically made from light linens, and are loose fitting for ease of movement. The Pashtun clothes are differently made for males and females. Pashtun men ...

, many

linens Linens are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths, and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church. History The earliest known household linens were made f ...

such as pillow covers and tablecloths and

scarves A scarf, plural ''scarves'', is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or head for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or used to show the support for a sports club or team. They can be made in a variety of diffe ...

and

shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...

References

{{Afghan clothing Embroidery Embroidery by country Afghan clothing Pashtun culture Kandahar

Name

Artwork

Use

See also

References