Kurdish Textile Museum, Textile museum in Erbil Citadel, Iraq
The Kurdish Textile Museum occupies a restored mansion within Erbil Citadel and displays regional fabrics, traditional garments, carpets, and hand-crafted decorative pieces. The exhibitions showcase weaving techniques and production methods passed down through generations.
The museum was founded in 2004 and is housed in a renovated residential building in the southeastern part of Erbil Citadel. It preserves knowledge of textile production methods that have been practiced in the region for centuries.
The collection displays weaving patterns and dyeing techniques that distinguish different Kurdish regions and communities. Visitors can observe how local plants were used to create dyes and what symbolic meanings the patterns carry in daily life.
The museum offers guided tours and workshops where craftspeople demonstrate traditional weaving techniques. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes as the citadel contains many stairs and uneven pathways.
The museum maintains an archive of wool samples dyed with wildflowers and plants native to the region, documenting traditional color extraction methods. This collection reveals which plant species produced specific shades used in textiles.
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