Page 42 - Județul Sălaj - prezentare

The folk port, Sălaj

The folk port is a form of art, woven and sewn by housewives, during long winter nights or in
seating. The materials from which popular costumes were made were obtained and processed
in the household, hemp being the raw material from which clothing was made. The women
were taught as little children to purr and tear, so the custom was kept and transmitted from
generation to generation.
It is an element of identity, a recognition mark of the members of a community, a means of a-
ssessing age and social status and evolved over time according to the better or less good
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times, the needs existing at one point given or the needs it fulfills. Generally, the popular cos-
tume was the “Sunday Clothes”, dressed in church or at the “Hora Satului” (traditional round
folk dance). Even if it does not fulfill the same purposes as in the past, the traditional folk port
continues to represent national and local identity, belonging to a certain ethnographic area and
a symbol of pride and tradition in time. In Sălaj it is specific to the ethnographic areas of the
county - Agrij Valley, Someș Valley and Barcău Valley, the coloring or embroidery of the pieces
of clothing creating largely the specificity of the port of each mentioned area.

Most of the decorations found on popular folk costumes from Sălaj are stylized symbols, straight
lines, parallel lines, spiral, circle, geometric shapes of different types, ram horns, cross, brace .
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The folk port, Sălaj

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32, 33 Mureșan, Olimpia, Spăcelul de Sălaj, Cele mai frumoase cămăși femeiești din colecția Muzeului Județean de Istorie și Artă Zalău