I am Márta Csökmei, hand weaver. I discovered weaving in 1981 at the workshop of Dalma Korényi. After completing my ethnography degree, I worked for a few years for the hand weaver Mária Varga. From 1989 to 1993 I studied the different weaving techniques and yarn dyeing in the USA. Since then I like to experiment and learn the weaving techniques and patterns of different Hungarian regions and other nations.

When I returned home, I took on various orders as an independent weaver, participated in fairs (Festival of Crafts, Museum of Applied Arts) and taught belt weaving.

I made unique bedspreads, wall protectors, pillows, scarves, vests with 4-8 shaft patterns.

Another group of my weavings is made up of sacred textiles: a Reformed table cloth with an early Christian symbol, a Lutheran altar cloth, a Catholic mass vestment and a stole. The latter won an award in Békéscsaba.

The third group includes reconstructions of various folk costume pieces, mainly for the various programs of the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble. For these I also carried out research using the collection of the Museum of Ethnography (Finnish belt from 1895, Armenian double-woven belt, clothing from Mezőség, aprons from Šokac ) I loved these works because during the research there was always something surprising, a message or a guide from the original weaver.

 

From 2009 to 2021 we lived in Wales, where I worked as a house parent at an international boarding school with 16-19 year olds.

With them we tried a variety of handicrafts, sometimes for therapeutic purposes.

I retired in 2023, my children are grown up, and now I want to spend even more time at the loom.