Happy Diwali, the Feast of Lights. All up and down my street houses are decorated with lights of all colors.
Dear old friends, former neighbors, texted to check I was home, and dropped in briefly on their way to a Diwali party for a hug and to give me a little bag of homemade treats. Great surprise!
Earlier there was a Hajji Baba Club and Textile Museum of Southern California joint presentation on Persian rugs by a collector and writer on this art form.
He discussed the contrast between the sophisticated urban life style, where workshop rugs were created, and the simple lives of nomads who created equally wonderful works with simple spinning and weaving setups.
You'll see nomad tents, a woman spindle spinning wool -- rugs often cotton warp, wool weft -- and the kind of simple looms which demand great skill on the part of the weaver.
There an S formation, seen in different designs in its own slide above, found in a lot of borders, which is a version of the two headed animal or bird.
The last slide shows Opie with friends in a rug gallery, clearly happy campers! As usual with this kind of collector's presentation, there were dozens of great slides, so I winnowed it down to a manageable number for a blogpost, with enough information for you to continue learning if the spirit moves you.
Earlier in the day, I found one of my favorite sights, a beech tree with its own foliage shadowed on the silvery smooth trunk.
Happy day, everyone! Enjoy the lights everywhere. Including yours, the one you shed.
Diwali treats -- how lovely! And the Persian two-headed animals motif makes me think of Dr Doolittle's pushmi-pullyu. Perhaps that's where the author got the idea.
ReplyDeleteThe two headed theme is pretty ancient, dating back to Janus, maybe further, so yes, it's possibly a meme he picked up on.
DeleteYou must have been interested in textiles all your life. You know so much and it's fun to get a bit educated in something I've always liked but never took the time to learn about.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoy it. Sometimes you don't know where to start on learning about a field.
DeleteI love that lion rug! Fascinating designs and patterns. Weirdly, some of them remind me of the video game "Space Invaders," with those creature-like medallions made of squared-off stitches looking like pixellation. (Particularly the 1904 Rakhtiyari (?) rug.)
ReplyDeleteBakhtiyari. I wonder where the space invaders creators got their ideas.
DeleteI also am learning about things I didn't know and really didn't think about. You have forged good friendships, which says a lot about you. The treats look good.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're getting value here. That's so nice to hear. The treats are almost history.. Mostly very hot and spicy.
DeleteYou got treats!
ReplyDeleteHappy Diwali!
ReplyDeleteThose are nice treats.
Beautiful weaving. The Safavid Fra 16th Century, has my heart.
I love how people are picking favorite rugs! I fancy the bird ones. Happy Diwali back.
DeleteWhat sweethearts your former neighbor friends are!
ReplyDeleteI can't begin to fathom the skill, artistic ability, and work that making those rugs require. It's like a whole world made into something that people walk upon. Do they really? Walk on those rugs? I would hang them all up to be admire for eternity.
That beech tree really is lovely.
A lot of these artworks are used to sit on, or toss over furniture. Even when walked on, it's on sandy ground, no shoes, not like modern Western houses where people stamp around in hard soled shoes. Some are wall coverings, insulation against wind and cold.
ReplyDeleteWant a lovely surprise having friends drop in. Not to mention the yummy food. How blessed are you
ReplyDeleteYes, it was lovely. A surprise but with enough advance notice to comb my hair!
DeleteI listened to a story about Diwali while I waited for my granddaughter the other day. Such a lovely celebration. We could all use more light in our lives!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Hanukkah and the Italian Festival of lights are a similar notion of welcoming light, all welcome on dark days, and we're having plenty of them just now.
DeleteI am in awe of all the rugs. Far more complex than any I wove on four harnesses.
ReplyDeleteYes, especially when you see the simplicity of their looms.
DeleteDiwali is a lovely festival that is gaining ground here with our increased immigration from India.
ReplyDeleteMy visitor has a sister in Australia!
DeleteI wonder where. A lot end up in Melbourne.
DeleteThis is very interesting. I don't know much about Diwali. I'm so ipressed with the beauty of those rugs. A very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteDiwali is a lovely feast, one that anyone can enjoy.
DeleteLooks like a box of special treats and lovely that your friends dropped in.
ReplyDeleteAs always the tapestries are fascinating. Not something I envision ever attempting to create but nice to admire from afar.
I think very few of us are able to create works like these. Like you, I admire only.
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