Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats
October 16, 2010 through March 13, 2011

The Textile Museum,  Washington, D.C.

In the streets of Central Asian oasis towns, a man’s clothing defined his status in society and proclaimed his wealth. In the home, the place of honor was filled with the richest ikat textiles. Many family ceremonies were celebrated in surroundings made beautiful with textiles. Ikats display Central Asian artists’ and weavers’ attention to the harmony between design, color and execution in order to create their master works. These textiles are visually stunning because of their bold graphic designs, rich fabric texture and deep, rich and brilliant colors, all of which make them a key source of inspiration for contemporary designers and artists.

Colors of the Oasis will feature a selection from the 148 high caliber Central Asian ikats given to The Textile Museum by collector Murad Megalli in 2005.The stunning, colorful textiles on view will include coats for men and women, and women’s dresses and pants, as well as cradle covers, hangings and fragments -- all on view for the first time ever.

 On Friday 15 October there will be an opening reception at the Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW , 7:30 pm with a preview of this exhibition.

The Textile Museum expands public knowledge and appreciation – locally, nationally and internationally – of the artistic merits and cultural importance of the world’s textiles.

http://textilemuseum.org 

The 2010 raffle is here! Help us ensure that childhood is not a luxury item for children like Maili, a child weaver rescued by GoodWeave inspectors. Maili is shown here in class at Nepal’s prestigious Little Angels School, an opportunity made possible by GoodWeave’s academic sponsorship program.

Each raffle ticket you purchase supports GoodWeave’s campaign to end child labor in the handmade rug industry and sponsor schooling for children like Maili in South Asia — and gives you a chance to win this exquisite carpet, certified child-labor-free by GoodWeave.

Japanese Floral in Saffron, measuring 8’ x 10’ and retailing at $9,000, has been donated by Florence Broadhurst Handmade Rugs, a collection by Cadrys that translates the Australian designer’s iconic wallpaper designs into rug art. Hand woven in Nepal from Tibetan wool, silk, and natural fibers, Japanese Floral links elegant Japanese influence with artistic poise. Luxe Interiors + Design says the collection “offers an exotic grace reminiscent of the Australian design doyenne’s flair and sophisticated flamboyancy.”

DALLAS -- When Cyrus Hassankola moved to Dallas a couple of years ago, after successfully going out of business in several locales, he decided to settle down and go out of business permanently.

"The response was good from day one," the carpet salesman says.

Customers rooting through the stacks of oriental rugs in the store he opened on a busy road in North Dallas would sometimes say how sorry they were that he was going out of business. "We're not," Mr. Hassankola told them. "It's just the name of the store." 

See the full story at  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124579907861644365.html 

ATHENS - A family of carpet makers in the Turkish city of Izmir are trying to return a carpet left behind more than 80 years ago by ethnic Greeks that fled the Turkish army, an official said Tuesday.

The 40-square-meter carpet had been ordered by a Greek family in Izmir -- which was occupied by the Greek army at the time -- shortly before the city fell to Turkish forces, the prefect of Lesbos island Pavlos Vogiatzis told AFP. The name Ekaterini Lazaropoulou and the year 1922 are woven into the carpet.

The Turkish family had tried to locate Lazaropoulou's relatives in Greece without success, Angelioforos daily reported. But they now have the option of gifting the carpet to a Greek refugee museum on Lesbos.

Thousands of Greeks at Izmir, members of a once-flourishing class of traders and artisans, were massacred while fleeing victorious Turkish forces who took the city in September 1922 at the end of a three-year war with Greece. The city was known under its Greek name of Smyrna at the time. Memories of the "Smyrna Catastrophe" still run deep in Greece.

Agence France-Presse