Traditional Georgian tablecloths feature in top Italian craft fair

Traditional Georgian crafts are set to be displayed to millions of people at Italy’s leading craft festival.

Georgian tablecloths with traditional patterns – Laboratory Blue tablecloths (Lurji Suprebi) – will be among the work from 2,900 exhibitors from 113 countries at Artigiano in Fiera – an international New Year’s Eve Craftsman Fair in Milan, Italy.

About 3 million visitors are expected to visit the Artigiano in Fiera (craftsman fair) during the 10-day festival, which will begin on November 29. The event is regarded as one of the most important and visited international craft events in the country.

Event organisers said the craft fair was a place where visitors could learn and embrace the cultural traditions of more than one hundred countries.

The Georgian tablecloths are aesthetically pleasing but also have a more significant purpose and have occupied a special place in Georgian way of life for centuries.

Blue tablecloths are made of cotton and silk fabric. The traditional ornamental motifs, common compositional schemes are placed in various sizes and shape.

Traditionally, Georgian’s used blue tablecloths in special occasions such as weddings, hunting, ritual feasts and religious holidays, and were used by all classes of society. Since ancient times the tablecloths depicted ornaments (plant, animal motifs) and other symbols important to the culture.

Local company Laboratory Blue tablecloths (Lurji Suprebi) restored the traditional method of making the treasured patterned cloth printing that was lost in the 20th Century. Samples of the oldest patterned cloth date back to the 16th Century and are preserved at the National Museum of Georgia.

Georgian jewelry made from an enamel.

The company printed the blue tablecloths, napkins and head dresses using the traditional cold cube dyeing method, as well as modern printing methods. The blue tablecloths are made of cotton and silk fabric.

In 2010 a scientific-research laboratory of blue cloths was established at the Apolon Kutateladze Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, which contributes to the reconstruction and development of artistic textiles of Georgian ethnographic culture. Students are involved in the working process, which makes it possible to preserve the cultural heritage.