Romania, together with Albania and Türkiye, submitted the multinational file “Oya / Hemline decoration, the traditional practice of embellishing”, proposed for inclusion on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According to a Ministry of Culture release, the file, submitted on April 1, was coordinated by Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Romania’s working group included representatives of NGOs with notable activity in preserving traditional practices, particularly in the creation of traditional clothing items, with the “Semne Cusute” (Sewn Signs) Association, winner of the “Europa Nostra” award, playing a central role in coordinating the complex process of identifying and documenting this intricate technique.
“As part of the European research project Tracks4Crafts, the ‘Semne Cusute’ Association carried out a process of identifying and analysing valuable representative pieces from museum collections, ranging from the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, the Folk Art Museum in Constanta and the Botosani County Museum, to emblematic museums abroad, where the age and continuity of this technique can be traced,” the Ministry of Culture informed.
This association was joined by the “Mandra Project” (Contemporary Dowry) NGO from the Fagaras area and the “ART – Prut Craftmanship” Association from Iasi, the only NGO in Romania accredited under the 2003 UNESCO Convention, together with the Turkish-Tatar ethnic community, represented by the “Cusaturi Dobrogene” Association and the Democratic Turkish-Tatar Union.
Ioana Baskerville, President of the National Commission for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and focal point for the 2003 UNESCO Convention, provided technical support for this initiative.
Hemline embellishment is an old practice attested in the Romanian cultural space and integrated into a broader cultural area encompassing the eastern Mediterranean, Balkan, Carpathian and Pontic regions. From a technical perspective, it consists of a family of procedures derived from the festoon stitch, applied to the edge of a rolled hem, characteristic of earlier stages, or a folded hem, a more recent variant, initially made with a needle and later also with a crochet hook.
In Romania, the element stands out through remarkable regional diversity, both in technical and ornamental terms.
“In the east and south of the country, the technique appears on traditional blouses, both men’s and women’s, with tunic-style cuts, decorated with small points and elaborate cross-stitches, richly ornamented. In the west, in the counties of Arad, Bihor and Salaj, specific wide stitches worked with the needle can be distinguished on blouses. In central and northern Transylvania, as well as in some areas of western Oltenia and southern Banat, richly decorated sleeve endings can be found, made with a crochet hook or through mixed techniques, sometimes polychrome. In southern Transylvania and northern Muntenia, stitches for gussets appear, with knots arranged along the sleeve, executed with the needle using combined techniques. In Dobruja, within Turkish-Tatar communities, the oya technique stands out, known by the same name in Türkiye, illustrating the broader cultural connections of this element,” the quoted source points out.
