Afghan rugs are genuine, often charming — and usually phenomenally inexpensive. At present, it is very hard to sort out which ‘Afghan’ rugs are actually made in Afghanistan, and which are made in Pakistan by Afghan refugees. At least a million Afghans, including hundreds of thousands of rug-weavers, fled Afghanistan during its war with the Soviet Union and subsequent civil war, settling especially in Pakistan and Iran. To my knowledge, very few rugs are shipped directly from Afghanistan to the United States or Europe today. Instead, most are transported to Pakistan, then shipped abroad. So both Afghan rugs made in Pakistan, and Afghan rugs made in Afghanistan, are shipped from Pakistan, often making it impossible to sort out where a particular Afghan rug is actually woven. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter. Presumably at some time many of the refugees will return to Afghanistan and resume rugmaking there. For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume that all rugs made by Afghan...
True or false – A colorfast wool rug can bleed? TRUE . The rug may be colorfast in CERTAIN situations. For example, with a regular cleaning or wash, with a neutral or acid side cleaning solution, the rug could be perfectly fine. No dye migration (aka “bleeding”). But, under different circumstances, it could absolutely have dyes migrate and bleed out. Some possible culprits – using high heat, using high pH solutions, keeping the rug wet too long (or in a flood), or exposure to pet urine stains. True or false – A dye fix/lock/stabilizing solution used by cleaners “sets” a wool rug’s dyes? FALSE . The solutions available in our industry for professionally cleaning rugs do not “set” the dyes. They STABILIZE them. This means with wool or silk rugs that are NOT colorfast, but test “stable” with the intended stabilizing solution, that you have a WINDOW OF TIME to clean them. (FYI – with silk rugs that window is MUCH shorter than with wool rugs. You better know what you...
5TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON AZERBAIJANI CARPETS Traditions and Innovations 17–20 OCTOBER 2017 BAKU, AZERBAIJAN ABOUT The 5th International Symposium on Azerbaijani Carpets (ISAC 2017) is an international academic lecture programme organized in partnership with the International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC). It takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan 17–20 October 2017. The organizers, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and ‘Azerkhalcha’ Joint-Stock Company, will collaborate on a multiple-venue cultural programme during the Symposium. Two special temporary exhibitions will be presented at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art (ANMA) and the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum. An 8-day HALI Tour in Azerbaijan and Georgia will follow the Symposium, 21–28 October 2017. More information AZERBAIJANI ENGLISH RUSSIAN
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