ISSUE 131 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003
CONTENTS & EDITORIAL
11 |LETTERS
Remembering Algeria; the meaning o f keshte.
13 |NEWS
London's topsy-turvy autumn sales week. 13 jFRAGMENTS
Transylvania revisited; Iran Heritage Foundation. 37 |PREVIEW
Turkmen carpets: Austrian private collections. 43 |CALENDAR
S H I
Hi! M .
Auctions, exhibitions, fairs and conferences. 51 1 BOOKS
salioiiias:
Antique Rugs o f Kurdistan; Recent Excavations o f Textiles in China;A World o f Carpets & Textiles; Titles Received. 66|SPECIAL REPORT
The secret of Mary Hunt Kahlenberg's success. 71 |FORUM
Can offset knotting define Kurdish weavings? 72 jAFGHANISTAN AND THE
SILK ROAD Jonathan Tucker Tracing a turbulent history of trade and conquest. 78 |IN THE PLATEAU STYLE
Thomas Cole Mongol style and the rugs of Tibet. 82 |THE POSSESSIONS OF
THE ANCESTORS Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Early Indonesian 'heirloom' textiles. 88 jA PERSIAN PUZZLE
Thomas D. Cook & Sumru Belger Krody Unravelling the origins of a rare tribal rug. 93|GALLERY
House style advertisements. 97 |REVIEW
Exhibitions; Fragments; Afghan art; Anatolian kilims; Turkish culture; modern carpets. Fairs: autumn in Paris. Conferences: Oxford report. 117 jAUCTION PRICE GUIDE
Navajo blankets in NY and the Spring sales. 129 |MODERN CARPET FOCUS
Aspecial advertorial section. 153 jDESIGN FILE
Afghan weaving; London fairs; Sartori. 161 jNETWORK
Classified advertisements. 166 |PROFILE
Avid carpet collector, Mark Hopkins. 167 |PARTING SHOTS
Autumn in Munich, Istanbul and Paris. 168 |LAST PAGE
The Tale of a Daghestan Rug.
T he international rug and textile community is a small one, so readers among the record number o f visitors who attended the 2003 HALI Fair at Olympia last June may have become aware o f a fairly vocal undercurrent o f discontent among exhibitors, not all o f which was attributable to market factors beyond our control. In consequence, it was decided that a new deal for exhibitors and visitors alike was both desirable and urgent in order to address the genuine concerns expressed to us. In other words - a relaunch.
For the past six years Hali Publications has worked in partnership with our sister company Centaur Exhibitions to establish the HALI Fair as a highly visible component o f the London in June art season. However, in 2003 it proved impossible for us to secure the previous year’sextremely popular and successful location on the balcony level o f the Olympia National Hall, nor could we hold the main suppliers to the fair, the contractors responsible for stand building and lighting, to the service levels our exhibitors had anticipated.
We are therefore delighted that Clarion Events, the organisers o f the Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fairs, have stepped in as coorganisers o f the HALI Fair for 2004 and beyond. This is avital change as Clarion are part o f the company who own the venue and therefore have considerably more clout with suppliers. This new deal has also enabled us to strengthen the HALI Fair proposition in an unprecedented way. The changes that result should secure the future o f the fair and confirm its position as the leading international event for dealers and buyers o f carpets, textiles and related works o f art.
The relaunch begins with a simpler and more inclusive name for the event, which w ill be known as 'The HALI Fair: Carpets, Textiles and Tribal Arts', reflecting the successful launch o f the Tribal Pavilion in 2003.More importantly, however, there is a new location, or rather a return to the Gallery Level o f the National Hall, overlooking the Summer Fine Art and Antiques Fair, and new dates. The Fair w ill now run for ten days from Thursday 3 to Sunday 13 June 2004, coinciding w ith the full run o f the SFAAF, at no extra cost to exhibitors. This represents tremendous added value for money (more than double the opening hours for the same price, w ith additional time available for set-up and vetting), and w ill ensure that exhibitors benefit from twice the potential visitor numbers (some 40,000 people visit the SFAAF during show days). And crucially, the new dates w ill ensure that The HALI Fair also coincides w ith the entirety o f the Grosvenor House, Ceramics and London Asian Art Fairs, thus maximising sales potential for all our exhibitors, and offering visitors far greater flexibility.
We look forward to welcoming you to the HALI Fair and the Olympia National Hall Gallery for an event that w ill mark the climax o f HALI’s 25th Anniversary year.
Sehna or Garrus rug, eastern Kurdistan, west Persia, mid19th century. 1,47 x 1.75m (4'io" x 5'9"). The split-palmette and trefoil arabesque design is found on 16th century Timurid inspired faience panels in the Friday Mosque in Esfahan as well as on Safavid court carpets of the period. Silk warps, cotton wefts and a single wefted structure are associated with fine 19th century Sehna (Sanandaj) urban workshop rugs, although the palette brings to mind the late 19th century silk-wefted Garrus rugs from the Bijar area. The rug was acquired in May 1991 at Rippon Boswell in Wiesbaden, catalogued as Bijar Garrus, second half 18th century (see HALI 58, p.152). James D. Burns Collection, Seattle, Washington.
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