The tradition of the bulrush weaving in Tápé (2013)
The word bulrush represents both the plant itself and the carpet which is made from it. Both were parts of Tápé’s inhabitants’ life for centuries.
The material was collected by the men and the warp yarn was drifted by children, young and old people from the ’selyöm’, which was pulled off from the edges of the plants’ leaves. The weaving was carried out mainly by women. Onto two-two pickets a rod, called ‘átalfa’, was placed and then the ‘ijan’ was perched to this after it was threaded through a rib.
Thenceforward the well prepared leaves were threaded through between them once from the right and once from the left. After pulling some thread, they compacted their weaving with a rib. The technique which was preserved for centuries has been passed on by many generations. This ongoing process was stopped at the second half of the 20th century, but there are still women nowadays who keep this tradition alive. Thanks to their work, the bulrush weaving is still an important part of the local people’s life.
The responsible institution for the professional coordinating of the UNESCO Convention in Hungary:
Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hungarian Open Air Museum
