Mimosa Dhima |
Malësia e Madhe (Albania) (EFE).- The thousand-year-old xubleta from Albania, one of the oldest clothing in Europe and whose complicated production is now mastered only by three old women, suffers a serious risk of disappearance that could be avoided after its inclusion on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Unesco.
“The xhubleta is Mediterranean, but we are lucky that it was preserved only among us, making it unique. In style and decoration, it is only Albanian. There is no similarity with other garments, only with (those represented) in terracotta from 4,000 years ago,” ethnographer Afërdita Onuzi, author of the book “Xhubleta,” told EFE.
This handicraft work is preserved as a typical traditional costume of the women who inhabit the Albanian Alps, in the north of the country.
After including it on its list of traditions in need of urgent protection, the United Nations Cultural, Scientific and Educational Organization (Unesco) has donated some 84,000 euros, which the Government will use in a project to document and transmit its production technique, and to create the necessary infrastructure for further production.
“Inscription on the Unesco lists is accompanied by the obligation of the State to keep alive” this clothing, Meri Kumbe, Vice Minister of Culture, assures EFE.
A skirt of 15 kilos
The most complicated piece of the xhubleta is the black wool skirt, flared and wavy at the back end, which can weigh up to fifteen kilos and hangs from the shoulders with two straps.
It is made up of numerous narrow felt ribbons sewn horizontally and joined by an elaborate structure of wool threads, braided with the help of a wicker basket.
The garments, made by hand, are decorated with gold or silver thread, or beads and beads, which trace geometric and floral figures from the imagination of each artisan, which makes each piece unique.
Rita Shkurtaj, president of the “Xhubleta of the Albanian Alps” association, has already started the work of digitizing the production process, so that this “marvelous work of grandmothers and mothers” is accessible to all.
One of the artisans who keeps this ancient tradition alive is File Kola, 71 years old.
At the age of eight, she began to learn to make the xhubleta with her mother and her aunt, and she was the only one of 7 siblings who dedicated herself to this work.
From grandmothers to granddaughters
She still treasures the xhubleta with which her mother married in 1938, and which she herself wore at her wedding in 1972 and her daughter in 2005.
“I know how to do all the processes from untangling the sheep’s wool, to spinning and then sewing and decorating,” Kola explains to EFE, who is forced to sell less elaborate imitations of this press to supplement her pension of less than 100 euros.
Part of xhubleta are accessories such as the postava, the embroidered belt with a large brooch; the scarf called kraholi and the kallcat, little socks in the shape of boots.
Numerous jewels also accompany the costume, among which the masha stands out, a kind of tongs that women used to take coals with which to light the cigarette for men.
In the past, the girls had between five and nine xubletas in their dowry, to dress them in the different stages of their lives, from the most ornate wedding to the one they wear after death.
The tradition began to fade among Catholic and Muslim women in the mountainous area in the late 1960s, when the communist dictatorship outlawed religion and private property and forced women to work in cooperatives.
From then on, the xhubleta was used only at parties and family celebrations or as a museum piece.
Its almost disappearance is also due to the high migration from the poor mountainous areas of the north, and the lack of work tools for its production.
In fact, the demand for xhubleta, mainly by Albanians from that region who emigrated to the United States, has grown after its inclusion on the Unesco list, and now they are paying up to 3,000 euros per garment.