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Aamu
Aryana
Antique Aryana
Baghlani
Bamiyan
Faryab
Hazara
Larhabi Sumak
Mogoli Kilim
Nooristan
Uzbeki Kilim
Zamin
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Turkmen Weavers
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Asymmetrical or Persian knot
Our most extensive and
diverse line of carpets is the Aryana. The carpets are woven by Turkmen
weavers from
Northern
Afghanistan.
The designs are eclectic, collected throughout the entire range the of
oriental rug and textile weaving tradition.
Sizes range from 2’ x 3’ to18’ x 28’. Only vegetable dye stuffs are
used: madder root is collected from
Northern
Afghanistan,
many other plant dye sources, roots and flowers, are collected from
Afghanistan
and some from within
Pakistan.
For wool we take the finest, largest staple wool, collected at the time of
the spring shearing from the high mountain region of central
Afghanistan.
This raw wool we then bring to
Baluchistan,
a remote province in western part of
Pakistan
where it is washed, hand carded, and handspun by Mogol refugees, a little
known ethnic group also from
Northern
Afghanistan.
From here the handspun yarn travels to
Lahore
where our vegetable dying and finishing work is located. The yarn is dyed
here and then sent out to the various refugee settlements in the northwestern
part of
Pakistan
where the weaving takes place. All weaving, with the exception of very large
pieces, takes place in individual family homes. Usually multiple generations
of Turkmen women (grandmothers, mothers, and their daughters) weave alongside
one another.
Carpet weaving is perhaps the most essential and revered cultural
activity for Turkmen, something which traditionally all women take part in.
Now many young men also are involved in weaving, something that was not
common in
Afghanistan, but evolved with the
refugee situation in
Pakistan. They primarily weave
the carpets larger than 10 x 14, too large for a loom to fit in a family
home. They usually range in age from 16 to 30 and work together in groups of
4 to 8. From the refugee settlements where weaving takes place the carpets
travel back to
Lahore for the finishing process.
Altogether it is a journey of thousands of kilometers with a tremendous
amount of attention and hand labor, however the result is a carpet that
radiates beauty and tradition, combining the centuries old skills with the
highest quality of all traditional materials.
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