Vintage carpets on display at city's art gallery

Carpets from Central Asia and Middle East, some that date back to the 19th and 20th centuries, have been put on display at an exhibition in the city.
The 10-day exhibition-cum-sale that began on January 29 at the Harrington Art Gallery, in the central part of the city, showcases an array of rugs, mats and runners from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Dagestan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and various Kurdish enclaves.
The carpets are a testimony of the fine work and years of labour that went into its making, Collector Danny Mehra told PTI.
Most of these weavers hail from ethnic groups, including Qashqai, Luri, Bakhtiari, Khamseh, Afshar, Shahsavan, Turkic and Baluch, he said.

"I have visited many countries - from eastern Turkestan to the Roman empire. You can't really find collectibles during short visits to tribal hamlets in these places. I get them through specialised dealers, other collectors or through auctions in Austria, Germany, the US and the UK," Mehra said.
Asked how the carpets woven by tribal nomad groups in central Asia are different from those in Kashmir, the collector, who lives in Bengaluru, said, genuine tribal carpets have abstract designs and clumsy patterns.

"The carpet weavers do not follow set patterns. And most importantly, the work reflects the personal expressions of the weavers," he said.

Mehra, who has lost count of the carpets collected from different parts of the globe in all these years, have brought 91 carpets to the city with the most expensive one flaunting a price tag of Rs 15 lakh.
"Every carpet tells a story and when I put them up for display, they carry my interpretation of the tale. The carpets woven by tribals bear certain interesting symbols - like the star which conveys happiness, bird which symbolises faith and tree eternal life," he said.
The weavers of the carpets were mostly women. They did not copy designs from pictures but created them from their own imagination with symbols of flowers, plants, birds, animals, human figures, mythical objects. The end result is a visual treat, Mehra said.

"My carpet collection at my Bengaluru studio will cover an entire football ground and I might set up a small private museum in future," he said.
Asked if the patterns change from one country to another, he said nomads know no borders.
"They travel from one place to another all life. In the present situation of strife and border conflicts, I am not sure how long they can continue that way. And if their movements are restricted, a rich legacy will be lost.