Quarterly Scientific-Research Goljaam

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Pillows are small fluffy woven fabrics that are prepared (filled with fibers such as cotton or rug fluff) and after that the fabric is used for leaning in the parties. Due to lack of comprehensive research on woven works in Gonabad town, this article aims to investigate and classify the motifs of Gonabad pillows and their meaning and implications, in a descriptive way, in order to achieve the categorization and recognition of motifs. After conducting library and field research, it has been attempted to find an answer to these question that: what can be categorized for local woven works? What is the role of culture, customs and common traditions on these works? The findings show that in addition to Baluchi, Arab and Turkmen motifs that are the result of migration, invasion or immigration to this part of Khorasan, local motifs derived from the customs and beliefs of the region play an important role in these textures. Local motifs can be found in the vegetation of climate such as wild flowers, Mohammadi, saffron and tulip, wheat and barley. Among the trees Cedar, Pine and Majnoon (insane) Willow could be pointed out and all the plant motifs are a symbol of endurance, beauty and desire for blessing and ailment. The animal motifs in the form of goats, deer and rams symbolize hardiness and perseverance, and lion is a symbol of the Ashura religious ceremony. Among birds, roosters and pigeons can be seen as being an early bird, and a messenger in the desert for people, although quail, pheasants, sparrows, and others are also found. Human motifs have played a role in the position of the business and the work of people, beliefs and the desire for happiness are the motifs for newly wed brides.

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The art of weaving in the territory of Iran is a part of the cultural identity of it`s people. The traditional handicrafts of Sistan and Baluchestan are also considered as an important aspect of this identity. Apart from design and color, many other dimensions of carpet production in this region can be considered as their cultural-religious characteristics. Since the study of the semantic dimensions of an artwork in terms of its creator is much more recognizable,
the present study aims to identify the unknown aspects of the indigenous culture and beliefs of the producers of these crafts by visiting the case study, and it also tries to answer this question that what is the correlation between indigenous rugs of Sistan and Baluchestan and their creators’ cultural traits and religious values.
This research has conducted direct observation and interviews with the natives with the approach of art anthropology and the methodology of ethnography in the region, and then through data coding in three levels of open, axial, and selective coding has attempted to classify them.
The results show that elements comprising the carpets in the Sistan and Baluchestan region, from their initial stages to the end, have wide semantic dimensions so that even the most trivial of them have deep roots in the culture and beliefs of its natives. Specific rituals for weaving, belief in sore eyes, composing special poems during weaving, washing ceremonies, etc. are a part of this elements. In this province, apart from its practical aspects, carpet is considered as a sacred commodity, and although there are obvious cultural differences among the people of Sistan and Baluchestan, the similarity of some beliefs regarding carpets shows the unity of the primitive roots of carpet weaving among the two main groups of inhabitants in this region.