Mat weaving or as in Persian language “Hasirbafi”, which traces back to thousand years ago, is a kind of the handicrafts that is created differently in each region and by using various kinds of leaves. This craft is more common in sea sides and riversides, because the principal material for it are wildling plants that grow near the marshes and rivers. In many regions, stems of wheat, rye, rice and leaflets of palm trees are used to weave the products, too. There are plenty of material resources in the province of Bushehr that is located by the sea in the south of Iran, such as leaflets and a local wildling plant that looks like the stem of wheat, and is called “Khakeh”. That is why mat weaving has long been one of the most popular handicrafts of this province.
To weave a mat, first stems that match each other in size and diameter are picked and soaked in water. Then three to five of them are packed together by another stem. These bundles are weaved together to make objects such as baskets, bags, floor covers, wall hang and etc. The leaflets can be colored using a special kind of ink called “Bagham” or logwood. Bagham is available in colors such as green, blue, violet and orange, and sometimes the weavers mix them with turmeric to add to the brightness. The motifs of mat weaving are most commonly made from the memory and are geometric and diamonds.
The most important products that are made by mat weaving are: 1. A kind of weave called “Tak” that is 10 cm in the width, and is used as a roof cover for village sheds due to its structure that hardly allows water; 2. a small basket called “Moghraf”; 3. “Toyzeh” that is a hand-woven circular mat used as a bread holder; 4.“Tali”, a utensil to hold wheat and other grains; 5. “Sapk”, a tray like weave that is used to sift the wheat seeds; 6. “Kondeh” that is a kind of fruit bowl; 7. “Chakan” that is a basket to gather dates and is used as a scale, too; 8. Fans; 9. Ropes; and 10. straw hats. Today, mat weaving is very popular in cities such as Genaveh, Dashtestan, Dashti, Tangestan and Kangan.