Bronze Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design · 2025
Zilli Rug
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Buruz Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,996
- Verification code 60AD2A1B37 · Verify this award
About Zilli Rug
Zilli is a blend of traditional weaving with postmodern lines. The rug is hand-woven using Turkey's geographical indication weaving technique. The motifs were embroidered during weaving with the Cicim technique. It is not post processing. This is the most special detail that distinguishes weaving from others. The motifs also have geographical indications. We used five of these motifs in producing the Zilli rug. The names and journeys of these motifs are; horseshoe (union of lovers), dog paw (happiness, abundance), scorpion (protection from evil), clover (luck), cocklebur (abundance).
Begum Karadag's Zilli Rug emerges from the rich textile heritage of Anatolia, where flatweave traditions have flourished for centuries as essential expressions of domestic craft, regional identity, and aesthetic refinement, situating this contemporary work within a lineage of Zili or Cicim weaving characterized by spare geometric compositions, restrained color palettes, and the elevation of negative space to active compositional principle rather than mere background. The technical achievement demonstrates considerable mastery of flatweave construction, wherein supplementary weft techniques create discrete motifs and linear elements against a plainweave ground, the tight even weave suggesting skilled hands working at a vertical loom with careful attention to tension consistency and selvedge integrity, the resulting textile surface presenting a smooth matte finish that enhances chromatic clarity while revealing subtle diagonal ridges characteristic of herringbone or twill binding structures. Compositionally, the work achieves sophisticated visual balance through asymmetrical distribution of motifs across an expansive ivory field, resisting centralized focus in favor of a scattered arrangement that activates the entire picture plane, the small-scale geometric emblems rendered in warm terracotta, golden ochre, deep indigo, and vibrant magenta functioning as chromatic punctuation marks that establish rhythmic intervals and create visual pathways across the generous negative space. The linear elements, particularly the prominent vertical band constructed from densely spaced black perpendicular marks and the horizontal traversing bands in varied hues, introduce directional energy and implied spatial division while maintaining overall compositional coherence, these elements suggesting both structural necessity, edges, seams, boundaries, and decorative elaboration. The restrained palette evokes natural dyestuff traditions, madder and pomegranate for warm reds, onion skins and chamomile for golds, indigo vat-dyeing for blues, each hue presented at near-full saturation to maximize visual impact against the neutral ground, slight tonal variations within single colors suggesting the organic irregularities inherent in hand-dyeing processes that enhance authenticity and material presence. Thematically, the work celebrates the aesthetic of restraint, the beauty found in economy of means, the power of empty space, and the quiet dignity of handcraft traditions that value precision, patience, and the cumulative effect of countless individual gestures, thousands of knots, picks, and passes, coalescing into unified material presence. The composition invites contemplation of balance between positive and negative space, between deliberate placement and intuitive arrangement, between inherited tradition and contemporary sensibility, suggesting how vernacular craft practices continue to offer relevant aesthetic vocabularies for modern design discourse while maintaining connection to cultural heritage and regional identity. One might observe how the scattered motifs function like visual constellations against the neutral field, each element distinct yet participating in larger relational structures, inviting viewers to trace connections, discover patterns, and find personal meaning in the thoughtful distribution of form and color across the textile surface, considering how such restrained compositions create space for contemplation, reflection, and appreciation of the essential rather than the elaborate, the necessary rather than the excessive, the enduring rather than the ephemeral.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Zilli is a blend of traditional weaving with postmodern lines. The rug is hand-woven using Turkey's geographically marked Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique. It has geographically marked motifs with five different meanings. The motifs were embroidered during weaving with the Cicim Technique, which is not considered as a post processing. This is the most important aspect that distinguishes this weaving technique from others.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 240 cm x Depth 280 cm x Height 1 cm. Since the product is handmade, these dimensions may change each time a production is completed. It is also possible to produce in different sizes. Package size is 80cmx40cmx60cm.
- Tags
- artisan, craft, rug, design, anatolian, woman, natural dye, sustainable
- Production Technology
- The production was made with the Karacakilavuz Weaving technique and produced in Tekirdag province of Turkey. Weaving is done on four-pedal and four texsolv heddles oak looms. The ground of the weave is twill weaving, motifs are processed with the Cicim Technique during the weaving. The wool is colored entirely with vegetable dyes and natural undyed cotton warp thread was used in its warp.
Three weaving pieces are produced separately and hand-embroidered using the crochet stitches. Back side cleaning process is done with a crochet hook and scissors. Three wings are joined together asymmetrically with a knitted wool chain. A lining fabric containing cotton is added to prevent the back of the fabric from being exposed. Finally, each rug fringe at the end of the rug is hand-attached to finish the product. - Design Challenge
- This design is far from the usual traditional lines while bringing this first innovation with preserving the traditional technique and motifs. In traditional, the motifs had an intricate structure and all motifs were evaluated separately. Their stories are individual but they whisper a story in general. At the same time, its production required precision. It made difficult for our team who had never worked with milimeters before. However it gave people pleasure with its colors and patterns, it began to be known in the workshop as '' Zilli '', a somewhat a joyful name, this gave the rug.
- Project Duration
- Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique, which is the core technique of weaving the product, belongs to the Tekirdag province of Turkey. It is only allowed to be produced only in Tekirdag. For this reason, the production of the rug was made in Buruz's own workshop in Tekirdag province of Turkey. Buruz's workshop is the first production workshop opened in Turkey, providing sustainable women employment for Karacakilavuz Weaving. The production period takes approximately one month (the stage of dyeing the ropes with plants is not taken into account).
- Operation Flow
- The product is designed as a floor rug. It is produced in Buruz's workshop in approximately one month, using completely environmentally sustainable materials. The sale and promotion of the product is made on Buruz's website or other sales points. Since it is a custom made product, it can only be produced as a limited edition. Due to its production feature, it is not a mass production item. The rugs production can be organized upon the order.
- Research
- We learned from the locals about the history of the weaving technique with geographical indication mark. We took old weavings that were used hundreds of years ago in the village and could not be preserved in good conditions from the houses. In this way, we also closely examined how the weaving technique was used in the past. We have measured dimensions of yarn's arrangement and placements of the threads at each pedal stages. Then we have recreated the weaving based on our measurements.
- Inspiration
- This weaving technique dates back centuries. Its name is Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique and it is unique to Tekirdag/Turkey and geographically marked. However, not all Karacakilavuz Weavings have survived to the present day. Zilli aims to revive this lost weaving technique from its ashes. With this design, a completely different interpretation has been brought by using exactly the same weaving technique and motifs. The motifs on it describe fertility and the bitter and sweet aspects of life.
- Image Credits
- The photos in pdf format were taken by Begum Karadag.
The other photos were taken by Tekirdag Municipality press officers. - Patents
- trademark registration number: 2021 102712