In the creative studio - Kilim Atlantis by Przemek Cepak

Kilim - a decorative fabric that once adorned the interiors of homes was a true craftsman's tradition. But what happened to our Polish kilim heritage? This was also the question that Przemek Cepak, founder of the Splot brand - which aims to save the weaving tradition from oblivion - asked himself one day.

What is a kilim?

Kilim is a traditional decorative fabric made with woolen weft on linen warp with rather geometric and simple motifs. In professional nomenclature these shapes are called "kilim action". It is double-sided and this is what primarily differentiates it from tapestries and carpets.

Splot founder Przemyslaw Cepak and designer Piotr Niklas in the background of the first kilim "Signs".

How it all started

The intensive search for ideas began just before the pandemic, in 2019. In June of the following year, the first kilim of Splot saw the light of day, titled "Signs."

Kilims - buried in homes, museums and attics fired my imagination. When with my dream of modern Polish kilims I went to the weavers of the last operating cooperative in Bobowa, I knew that together we would do something special. With many years of tradition and experience, skills unparalleled today, but most of all love of craftsmanship, I decided to combine them with the design and sensitivity of younger designers and designers. This is how Splot was born.

- says Przemek Cepak

Unexpected juxtapositions, unobvious shades, bold colors - that's how you'll know an OKO kilim

Two nations a common tradition

Splotproduces large-format representative textiles in two weaving centers. Przemek's activity promises a promising meeting of two nations for which kilim was once a vibrant tradition. The first center is Bobowa, located near Krakow, and the second is the Ukrainian workshop "Zena" located in Gliniany, a village in western Ukraine 50 km east of Lviv. Gliniany is a name that kilim connoisseurs associate particularly strongly with this craft. It is there that the history, weaving and kilim-making dates back to the second half of the 19th century. "Clay" is a former center of kilim weaving the largest in Austro-Hungarian Galicia and later in the Second Republic of Poland.

Historical kilim "Meadow" by Zofia Stryjeńska

Production under the guidance of specialists

Such historical pearls as Zofia Stryjeńska's design and Jozef Czajkowski's famous Parisian design have been found in weaving archives. It is the enterprise of reissuing these historically valuable designs that aims to revive the centuries-old tradition. The quality of the products is taken care of by Prof. Zenoviya Shulha, who works at the Department of Artistic Textiles at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, and who really knows a lot about this technique. Each center also has its own weaving tradition. In Gliny, for example, kilims are woven from thinner recycled Kovar wool. The weave draws on these developments and technologies and refines them where necessary.

Zofia Strumillo designer of the "Weranda" kilim and Przemyslaw Cepak

Multistage creative process

This is an artisanal production - three weavers weave in Bobowa and four in Gliny. Each square meter of kilim takes one weaver as much as a week! This work of art is also the fruit of the work of many people. That's whyeach hand-woven kilim bears the name of the weaver, the designer and a unique serial number. New designs are produced in limited editions with a maximum of ten pieces.

Ecology first and foremost!

Ecological aspects are a key value for the founder of Weave. The previously mentioned recycled wool is used in the production of the kilims, but here even the packaging is important:

We try to reduce our environmental impact by using what we already have. We do not dye the wool unless necessary. The packaging of the kilims is also eco-friendly. We sew special bags for them or use paper boxes that properly protect the works.

Joyful kilims perfectly fit into any arrangement, giving the interior a unique character

The mission of Splot

Kilim has always been a unique decoration, but it brings another interesting value to an interior - texture. Between the slippery surfaces of glass and lacquered countertops, the unique colors and patterns of kilim, combined with the texture of its laboriously woven layers, give an individual character to interiors.

We have a great kilim tradition that should be maintained, nurtured and promoted. It is Atlantis - the lost world - it once was, today it is gone.

The owner of the weave emphasizes that his company's mission is, above all, to keep the tradition alive, not only by re-editing historical patterns, but also by creatively encountering the tradition and using the knowledge of experienced weavers, so that the weaving culture can continue to be alive.