The Silk Road and the
Magic Carpets of Turkey
In
1270-71, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who visited Iconium (today’s
Konya, Turkey), wrote about seeing “the most beautiful carpets in the
world, and the most magnificent colors.” Today, these magnificent colors
are still present in nature and in carpets when I visit Turkey. and I like
to share their magic with my friends and tour participants.
First, a
little information about Turkey. Looking at a map, we see that a small
portion of the country is in
Europe and a much larger portion is in
Asia. The European part
of Turkey, called Thrace, is separated from the Asian side – Anatolia – by
the Bosphorous, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles Straits.
Rectangular in shape,
Turkey
covers 301,000 square miles (an area about the size of
Texas
and
maine put together), including 5,000 miles of coastline. Turkey’s
Anatolian coastline is dramatically different in look and feel from
Central Anatolia. The west coast, on the Aegean Sea, is a traveler’s
paradise known for it’s natural beauty and rich history. Both the western
and the northern coasts have a very favorable climate with lush
vegetation, especially along the Black Sea. It’s no wonder that most of
the civilizations that settled Turkey from the west chose the western
coast of Anatolia to live in.
As you move inland, the plateau of Anatolia rises to an average about
3,000 feet above sea level. The
landscape becomes very different from the coast. Soils and rocks are soft
and volcanic, which has allowed erosion to create many shapes and colors.
The wide horizon, with its immaculate blue skies and surreal landscapes,
possesses a truly poetic grandeur. It was here that the great migration of
Turkic tribes from
Central Asia chose to settle as they searched for new pastures.
Anatolia is the place where European West meets Asian East not only
geographically, but artistically as well. Since the earliest recorded
time, many races and cultures have inhabited
Asia Minor. Each wave of conquerors, immigrants and merchants brought with it a new
culture and assimilated some of the local culture. Conversely, each new
culture was absorbed to some degree into the existing one, thus greatly
enriching it. The same is true in art, especially folk art, since it is a
mirror image of the people expressing themselves. Once I started to
understand and feel the diversity of
Anatolia, my appreciation
of Anatolian carpets grew immensely.
Although it is difficult to give an exact classification of Anatolian
carpets, they are generally split into Western, Central and Eastern
Anatolian categories. When we look at Anatolian carpets more than 100
years old, what makes them unique compared to carpets from other countries
is exactly what Marco Polo saw in 1270 when he visited Iconium: color,
color and color. The classical Seldjuk carpets of the 13th
century that Polo noted certainly cannot be recreated today, but the magic
of their colors continues to be the main inspiration and focus of Turkish
carpets.
Much
of present day knowledge and study of color in Anatolian carpets is
credited to W. Bruggermann and Harald Bohmer. Their book on “Rugs of the
Peasants and Nomads of Anatolia,” published by K&A in Munchen, Germany, in
1983, is the most serious attempt to study and understand the importance
of color in Anatolian carpets. Their studies show that Western Anatolian
carpets are dominated by red and blue, while yellow and other colors
are used little or sparsely. In Central Anatolian carpets, yellow can be
the dominant color, while any colors and hues are acceptable in Eastern
Anatolian carpets, with the exception of yellow. Thus, when we speak about
the red and blue background Bergama carpets, or the yellow ground Konya
carpets, or the unreal combinations of three, four or five different reds
used in Eastern Anatolian carpets, the magic of Anatolian carpets comes
alive.
Unfortunately,
this magic of color in Anatolian carpets was almost destroyed in the 19th
century with the early introduction of synthetic dyes. The quality of
synthetic dyes is much better today and cannot even be compared to the
first aniline dyes synthesized by Perkins in 1856. However, the color
combinations obtained with the use of natural dyes that come from plants,
roots and insects cannot be matched by the use of synthetic dyes, even
today.
In a
way, the colors of their carpets reflect the history of Anatolia’s people:
Each new culture was absorbed to some degree into the existing one,
greatly enriching both. This absorption was reflected in the carpets as
new colors were introduced by the conquerors and then deftly absorbed and
balanced into the carpet makers’ palettes.
Today, most carpet production in Turkey still uses synthetic dyes. They
are easy to use and much cheaper than vegetable dyes. Who cares if they
are harsh? A chemical wash corrects the situation (although it destroys
the structure of the wool fiber) and a strong chemical wash gives the
muted colors so much desired by the Western taste. While visiting many of
the carpet shops in the Grand Bazaar, you will hear merchants all claim
that their carpets use natural vegetable dyes. But be wary and examine the
pile carefully, and compare both the front and back of the carpet. In
carpets that have been artificially bleached with chemicals, the black
wool is clipped to give the appearance of corrosion found in old carpets.
It is our Western taste for a certain “look” and our desire to buy cheap
that has inspired the creation of so many fakes and has hurt us in the
end.
Since1980, there are real and very serious efforts to revive the use of
natural vegetable dyes. Most of the villages we visit during my Rug Study
tours have active projects using natural dyes. The most famous one is the
DOBAG Project started in 1981, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Harald Bohmer
and the University of Marmara. DOBAG stands for “Dogal Boya Arastirma
ve Gelistirme Projesi,” Turkish for “Research and Development Project
for Natural Dyes.”
The
DOBAG project cooperates with village cooperatives in selected pilot
districts in Western Anatolia. It organizes courses on dyeing, classical
carpet design and weaving, both at the University of Marmara and in the
pilot villages. Each village cooperative has a president, a master dyer
and weavers. A team of expert weavers and members of the project closely
watch the quality of each carpet produced under the auspices of DOBAG.
Carpets accepted by the team of experts receive individual numbers and are
sold with a certificates that guarantee their quality.
DOBAG was the catalyst for similar projects to use natural vegetable dyes.
Although smaller in scope, the KOK project started in Konya by Michael
Bischof and his students Memduh Kurtul and Mumin Kurnaz, and their master
weaver Suzan Yalcin, revived the saturated colors and design combinations
typical of Central Anatolia. A project much larger than either DOBAG or
KOK is the one started some 20 years ago by George Jevremovic, “Woven
Legends,” based in Philadelphia. Woven in mountainous eastern Turkey, the
project’s carpets have established a new level of quality, design and
innovation in contemporary Turkish carpet production.
The
beauty, richness and historical importance of Anatolia’s weaving
traditions are a reflection of the creativity of its people. Carpet
weaving is firmly rooted in the fiber of Anatolian society. I believe that
it is only once you go beyond the material product and start to see and
feel the link between people and weaving that you can start to appreciate
the uniqueness of the carpets, contemporary or old. Understanding the
people who make these wonderful woven treasures is in its own way a “magic
carpet” to insight, empathy and appreciation.
Samy Rabinovic, is the founder and owner of New Horizons International, a
company developing cultural tours off the beaten path to Turkey and
Central Asia. He is a US-educated polymer chemist, an expert in
organizational dynamics, a lecturer and a rug aficionado or “ruggie”. Born
in Istanbul, Turkey, he loves art, history and people, thus his interest
in the rich culture of his native land. He enjoys continuing his own
exploration and informal field study of Turkic history, Central Asia and
Anatolia, while sharing the rich cultural and historical heritage of the
countries he visits with fellow travelers.
