We heard two talks on carpets and carpet quality. Is a longtime carpet collector and owner of Nomad
Carpets. He is a little, wrinkled, clever-eyed, spry man with strong opinions
and a deep love of carpets. We learned from him that the quality of a carpet is
not in the knots (“F…. the knots!”) but in the material and the design. Wool,
wool and cotton, and silk are durable and beautiful. No other materials will
last so long or keep looking good over a lifetime. The design and its colors is
a matter of taste and a good eye. He sends his pupils to the Istanbul Museum of
Textiles to look at those carpets to help them form their taste.
Punto is a store a few blocks outside of the Bazaar. It is a
bigger, slicker space than the Nomad Art gallery, and the owner is a bigger,
slicker type of carpet impresario. He served us Turkish coffees and tea and had
his assistants roll out carpet after carpet of glorious silken flowers and
vines. We saw carpets for collectors worth as much as $100,000. We saw
geometric and floral designs, earth tones, greens, silvers, blues, and reds.
A traditional-looking woman came out to demonstrate weaving
on a small loom. Her fingers flew through the threads at lightning speed. Our
host told us that she had learned her skill from her mother who learned it from
her mother and back through the generations---but her daughter is studying to
be a doctor. Who couldn’t be glad that women are finding opportunities that
will give them dignity and choices in their lives? How do we reconcile a love of
beauty with a commitment to justice and freedom? How can justice be in opposition
to beauty?
The art of carpets was invented by nomad women living on the steppes and in the deserts of Asia and the Middle East. What other art form has migrated from its invention and original purpose in non-elite non-urban ways of life to the homes and palaces of the urban elite?
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