Securing Serbia’s cultural heritage: the case of “Kilim of Pirot”

• Author: Vladimir Marić
• Position: Director, Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia

The rugs are typically produced by women who learn their craft from their forebears. Weaving "kilim of Pirot" is strenuous work, but thankfully, the women who weave kilim rugs today have a more secure existence than previous generations.(Photo: © Slavica Ćirić)

The rugs or kilim produced in Pirot, a town in southeastern Serbia are the gift of such tradition, reflecting the rich cultural and historic legacy of the town’s carpet makers, and the value of this craft, which merits preservation and promotion. That is why, on June 18, 2012, by the decision of the National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia, kilim weaving in Pirot was added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia under UNESCO protection.

A brief history of ”Kilim of Pirot”

The cooperative of kilim weavers from Pirot, the first organized manufacture of these rugs, was founded 122 years ago, but kilim weaving in Pirot dates from the 9^th century AD. With their striking colorful designs, “kilim of Pirot” are renowned the world over for their beauty and quality.

These high-quality rugs gained global recognition in the late 19^th and early 20^th century winning top awards at the World’s Fairs in Lyon in 1894, and in Liege in 1905. Thereafter, kilim rugs entered the American and British markets. At the Balkan States Exhibition in London in 1907, news reports noted: “in the Queen’s Palace, the beautiful kilims from Pirot celebrated indescribable victory! The English are amazed and in awe,” the Serbian author Žikić Vitković writes in her book Pirot’s Carpet.

After the First World War (1914-1918) the quality standards ─ similar to those governing the current geographical indication ─ for producing the ”kilim of Pirot” were established. In 1925, the Evaluation Board of the Kilim Weaving Cooperative was established. Its role was to ensure that the design, colors and materials used to make kilim rugs met the established quality standards.

With their striking colorful designs, “kilim of Pirot” are renowned the world over for their beauty and quality.

In the inter-war years, the Pirot Kilim Weaving Cooperative won over 50 international and domestic awards and prizes, including at the International Exhibition of Art and Technology in Paris in 1937. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s kilim rug weaving in Pirot continued to flourish with orders flowing in from Austria, Finland, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and...