KOSALARI, GEORGIA: For nearly five decades, Zemfira Kajarova has dedicated herself to weaving the unique Persian-style wool carpets of Kosalari, a small hillside village in southern Georgia.
The 65-year-old grandmother spends hours each day working meticulously at a wooden loom in her home, tying thousands of woolen yarn knots by hand.
“I moved here when I was 16 after getting married,” she recalled, noting that carpet weaving was not practiced in her hometown, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.
Once woven, the carpets undergo a detailed finishing process, which includes shaving, beating, and carefully scorching them with a gas burner to remove dust and loose threads.
For over a decade, Zemfira has partnered with reWoven, a social enterprise founded by a U.S. missionary, to connect local artisans with international buyers willing to pay fair prices for their handcrafted rugs.
The initiative supports a network of weavers, all elderly women from Georgiaβs Azerbaijani Muslim minority.
While inspired by Persian rugs, the Borchalo carpets crafted by Zemfira and her peers use wool rather than silk and feature bold, geometric patterns with a limited color palette, distinct from the floral motifs commonly found in Iranian designs.
“If rugs were like wine, then Iran would be France, and the Caucasus would be Italy,” explained William Dunbar, a volunteer co-director at reWoven.
He added, “Iranian rugs are globally recognized and remain the center of handwoven rug production. But the Caucasus region produces rugs of equal quality, even if it is lesser known.”
During the Soviet era, as modern, factory-made textiles gained popularity, traditional rug-making in Georgia declined significantly. Today, only a few elderly women in remote villages continue to preserve this centuries-old craft.
