“Interwoven Stories” about one Greek village’s tradition of women-led artistry

An effort from UCLA’s SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture and director Sharon Gerstel seeks to document and share that tradition.

Kilims, handwoven rugs—a word that conveys a much more floor-bound existence than that enjoyed by the textiles in Geraki, which are still hung with pride from balconies in the village on special occasions—have been a well-known specialty of the village since the 1800s. Weaving Dreams: Kilims from Geraki, Laconia, a recent publication from the Benaki Museum co-edited by Dr. Gerstel and supported by SNF, catalogues over a hundred colorful kilims and documents the contexts in which they were produced.

In 2023, as part of the Gefyra Partnership between UCLA and the SNF Center for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University (SFU), graduate students from both institutions and the University of British Columbia conducted interviews with the weavers carrying on the largely matrilineally inherited craft in Geraki. Weaving Dreams and the interview videos build on homegrown efforts in the village to preserve the tradition.

“The commitment of the villagers to recall the long history of Geraki is strong and ongoing,” Dr. Gerstel writes in the book. “The inscription of Geraki’s weaving tradition in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2019 manifests a collective desire to preserve this vital aspect of its history and to emphasize that the village’s long history is the strong foundation of a thriving future.”

As part of that long history, according to Dr. Gerstel, the village “in the 1930s was the center of attention for a group of artists, archaeologists, and even political figures,” a situation she detailed in a March talk at the Benaki Museum, Interwoven Stories: The “Generation of the 1930s” and a Laconian Village (A Play in Four Acts). Kilims, of course, make recurring appearances in the story she tells.