For nearly 50 years, Zemfira Kajarova has dedicated herself to weaving Borchalo carpets in the hill village of Kosalari in southern Georgia. At 65, she spends hours each day at her wooden loom, meticulously threading woolen yarn into thousands of knots. Originally from a village 40 km away, she married young and moved to Kosalari, where she learned the intricate art of carpet weaving, a skill unknown in her hometown.
Each carpet undergoes a detailed finishing process—shaving, beating, and scorching with a gas burner to remove dust and loose ends. For over a decade, Zemfira has collaborated with reWoven, a social enterprise that helps find international buyers for these handcrafted rugs. The organization works with older women from Georgia’s Muslim Azerbaijani minority, ensuring that the local craft reaches global markets.
Unlike the silk-based Persian rugs they resemble, Borchalo carpets are made from wool and feature bold, geometric patterns with a limited color palette, rather than the floral motifs common in Iranian weaving. Despite being less famous than Persian rugs, Caucasian carpets maintain a tradition of high-quality craftsmanship.
During the Soviet era, local carpet weaving nearly disappeared, with only a few women in remote villages preserving the tradition. Today, these weavers not only sustain an ancient art but also provide essential income for their families. Kosalari, located 60 km south of Tbilisi, is home to a predominantly ethnic Azerbaijani population. The community, separated from Orthodox Christian Georgians by their Turkic language and Shi’ite Islamic faith, faces economic challenges due to limited employment opportunities. Many residents rely on remittances from relatives working abroad, making carpet weaving a crucial source of income.
Weaving brings in hundreds of dollars per rug, offering financial stability in an otherwise isolated village. However, the future of the craft is uncertain. Younger generations, who have received Georgian-language education and are more integrated into broader society, show little interest in taking up weaving as a profession. Zemfira remains committed to preserving the tradition, but she laments that few young people want to learn. With the number of older weavers dwindling, the survival of Borchalo carpet weaving hangs in the balance.
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