Klash are associated with Hawraman, Halabja and Marivan. Workshop reporting, a footwear study and makers’ accounts explain their construction, changing tools and place in Kurdish dress.
What are klash?
Klash, also written kalash, are traditional Kurdish shoes associated with Hawraman and nearby towns. Sartip Othman’s 2016 report describes cotton-thread uppers and soles held together with cowhide straps, made in homes and market workshops. [1] A later interview with shoemaker Hama Nuri describes wool uppers, cotton fabric and cowhide soles. [2] These accounts document variation in materials rather than one recipe that applies to every pair.
Uppers, soles and regional differences
Zahra Nikouei and colleagues’ 2017 study of giveh describes fieldwork with upper-weavers and sole-makers in several Iranian provinces. Its findings distinguish cotton uppers worked around a prepared sole in western Iran, including Kermanshah and Kurdistan, from a method in which separate uppers and soles are joined by another worker. The paper also describes mesh patterns and decorative silk versions. [3] Giveh is therefore useful comparative context, but its regional examples should not all be relabelled as identical Hawrami klash.
Jwan Yaseen Mohammad and changing tools
SEED’s For Every Woman exhibition, held at Erbil Citadel in November–December 2022, profiles Jwan Yaseen Mohammad. She makes klash uppers both by hand and with knitting machines. Her account connects the work with financial independence, customer trust and a wish to expand her business. [4] Naming a working woman gives the craft a human history. It also shows why a blanket claim that authentic production never involves machines is too rigid.
Hama Nuri: learning, orders and dress
In Goran Sabah Ghafour’s August 2021 report, Nuri says he learned from his father and had practised for twenty years. He describes orders from Kurds abroad and other customers. One buyer collects a white-and-blue pair to match his rank u joghal outfit after waiting three weeks. Nuri also recommends alternating the shoes between feet to balance wear. [2] An order’s waiting time is not a fixed manufacturing time for every shoemaker or design.
Two different forms of recognition
The World Crafts Council lists Marivan as a World Craft City for Klash Footwear Stitching. [5] UNESCO’s 2021 inscription concerns the Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat in Iran, recognising terraced settlement, agriculture, seasonal movement and associated traditions. [6] These are distinct designations by different bodies. The landscape listing should not be presented as a separate UNESCO inscription of klash-making, and recognition does not date the invention of the shoe.
Seasonal use and the limits of origin stories
Othman describes klash chiefly as spring and summer footwear and notes that winter conditions can damage the fabric. [1] Material, construction and care should therefore be discussed with the individual maker. The giveh study acknowledges uncertainty about the craft’s development. [3] Claims of an exact prehistoric age, an invariant week-long production time or a single legendary inventor need stronger evidence than a general story of ancient heritage.
Sources and further reading
- Sartip Othman, Handcrafted Kurdish shoes sell in Hawraman and beyond, Rudaw, 11 July 2016; workshop report.
- Goran Sabah Ghafour, Kurdish shoes: Cool in summer, warm in winter, Kurdistan24, 14 August 2021; Hama Nuri interview.
- Zahra Nikouei et al., Giveh Handicraft in Iran: An Anthropological Study Approach, International Journal of Applied Arts Studies 2/1 (2017), pp.47–54; methods and findings on pp.48–49.
- SEED Foundation, For Every Woman, 2022 exhibition; Jwan Yaseen Mohammad profile.
- World Crafts Council International, Asia Pacific Craft Cities; Marivan entry.
- UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Decision 44 COM 8B.36, Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat, 2021.