25 The Khalili Collection currently at L’Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
111 ‘Woven Beauty’ at the Museum der Kulturen,
Basel
74 ‘Their Own Fantastic Universe’, the beaded aprons of Cameroon
CONTENTS ISSUE 162 WINTER 2009
FRONTLINES
NEWS Asian Art in London 2009; a Lotto carpet at Rippon Boswell’s recent sale; new galleries open at the Ashmolean Museum and the V&A ; Altai’s charity auction
15
POSTCARD A view of Central Asia – Hans König reports from Samarkand and Bukhara 20 PROFILE A look at the Khalili Collection, currently in exhibition around the world 25 FORUM Getting to grips with the rugs of Francis Bacon 28 BENCHMARKS Stephen Szczepanek encourages us to appreciate the beauty of a Japanese Sakioricoat; Leng Tan discusses a Sumba hinggi 33 MASTERPIECE Nasca man’s sleeveless tunic from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by Christine Giuntini 36
FEATURES BOUCHEROUITE
43
AXEL STEINMANN & GEBHART BLAZEK The emergence of Moroccan rag rugs, textiles formed from found materials, is a consequence of the social, economic and cultural upheavals occurring in the rural areas of the country
THE CORONATION CARPET
46
LINDA KOMAROFF Two important and seldom seen Classical Persian weavings, the Ardabil and ‘Coronation’ carpets, are on show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art until mid-January 2010
ADVENTURES ON THE ALTIPLANO
50
KATIE LOUX
San Francisco textile art dealer Steve Berger is one of a small group of individuals who have helped to bring Aymara textile art to the international market in the 1970s and 80s.
Contributing Editor Kate Loux discusses the discovery of the textiles with the dealer
AMISH WITH ATTITUDE
64
JILL D’ALESSANDRO At San Francisco’s de Young Museum until 6 June 2010, ‘Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown’ presents 48 quilts from the 1880s to the 1940s, and celebrates the artistry and diversity of this Amish tradition
BAHLULI?
A group of symmetrically-knotted ‘Baluch’ rugs DEWITT MALLARY Are the small subset of ‘Baluch’ weavings with symmetric knot the work of the Bahluli people?
68
THEIR OWN FANTASTIC UNIVERSE
Ceremonial cache-sexes of the Bana Guili Kirdi VANESSA DRAKE MORAGA Dances, ceremonies and rites of passage are occasions when these beaded pubic aprons are worn by women and girls from the villages of northern Cameroon and surrounding regions
74
CONTEXT EXHIBITIONS ‘Woven Beauty’ at the Museum der Kulturen in Basel; Book of Omens – ‘Falnama’ at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC; Le Salon du Collectionneur at the Grand Palais; Global India at Francesca Galloway, London; Velvets at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan; the Textile Museum of Prato shows off medieval and Renaissance silks; rugs from Milan’s Alberto Levi; tentbands at the Turkmentreffen; Chinese minority textiles at Dumortier, Antwerp; reports from ARTS at the Capri Motel in San Francisco 86 CALENDAR Auctions, exhibitions, fairs and conferences worldwide 116 AUCTION REPORT A Persian silk rug steals the London Islamic Week show and a report on the Copper King’s Esfahan collection which sold at Christie’s New York 121 AUCTION PRICE GUIDE Recent sales in Europe and the US 125 BOOKSEuropean Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago reviewed;Titles Received 132 MARKETPLACE An interview with Milan’s Robin Pavizyar and Kat Maeckle 143 PARTING SHOTS The best shots from San Francisco, Berlin and beyond 144 FIRST VIEW A newly discovered Iznik mosque lamp with Ottoman Turkish inscription 148
HALI ISSUE 162 5
