The Craftsmanship
A kilim is a traditional flat-woven textile with a centuries-old history across Anatolia and a wider region extending through the Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia. In Anatolia, kilim weaving became closely associated with nomadic communities, where these textiles served many purposes. Lightweight yet durable, their flat weave makes them easy to fold, carry and transport, while also providing practical insulation within nomadic tents.

Typically woven from wool, kilims were particularly suited to pastoral and nomadic life: the material was locally available, while relatively simple looms allowed weaving to take place within communities moving seasonally between pastures. Over generations, different regions and weaving communities developed distinctive combinations of colour, pattern and motif, creating a rich visual language alongside the kilim’s practical function.

Today, Taylan works with workshops and craftswomen in villages across Central Anatolia, where many of the fundamental techniques of traditional kilim weaving survive largely unchanged. Each work is still made by hand, preserving the direct relationship between material, weaver and loom that has defined the craft for centuries.

The creation of each kilim follows a series of distinct stages, from the initial design to the weaving and final finishing of the textile.

01
Creating the Artwork
Once the dimensions and shape of the kilim are determined, the composition is drawn digitally and developed through a series of proportional and colour studies. As no form in nature is an exact repetition of another, each recurring motif is individually drawn and subtly mutated by hand to adapt to the dimensions and shape of the work.

02
Wool Yarns & Natural Dyes
The wool fibres are first spun into yarn by twisting them together to create a continuous thread suitable for weaving. The yarn is then coloured using natural dyes derived from botanical and other natural sources, with the wool immersed in dye baths to gradually absorb the pigments.

For each kilim, colours are selected by hand from a large collection of naturally dyed wool yarns. The subtle variations inherent to natural dyes give each colour its particular depth and tonal character.

03
Weaving the Kilim
Each kilim is woven by hand on a traditional weaving loom, where vertical warp threads are held under tension to form the structure of the textile. Unlike a pile carpet, a kilim has no knotted surface: coloured wool weft threads are woven back and forth through the warp, gradually constructing both the textile and its image.

Different colours are woven independently across areas of the composition, allowing the original drawing to emerge directly through the structure of the weave.

04
Finishing the Kilim
Once the weaving is complete, the surface of the kilim is carefully passed over a flame in a controlled process known as singeing, removing loose fibres and excess wool hairs. The kilim is then thoroughly washed to remove dust and remaining residue before being hung to dry.

Finally, the textile is carefully pressed and straightened before the edges are completed with hand-wrapped tassels, forming the final finish of the kilim.

The Film
Watch “The Weaving of Fictional Flora: A Kilim in the Making

Taylan Aygün

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