An exhibition titled "Tribal Weavings of Southern Persia: Artifacts of a
Vanishing Style" has been running at the Minasian Oriental Rug Gallery in
Evanston, Illinois since early October, 2002. It will conclude at the end
of March, 2003, when some of the pieces in the Evanston show will be moved
on to ICOC in Washington, D.C.
Minasian¹s (telephone: 847-864-1010), located in a large ground floor space
in this Chicago suburb, about a half hour's cab ride from O¹Hare
International Airport, has been putting on educational and artistic
exhibitions like this one for many years. In fact, "Tribal Weavings of
Southern Persia" is the seventh in the series. Nothing on exhibition is for
sale, and most items come from collectors in the Chicago area. Visitors to
the exhibition are admitted through a locked front door (Minasin¹s has never
lost a piece out of an exhibition.) during regular business hours and are
ushered into a 60¹ X 15¹ well lighted yellow-painted, high-ceilinged gallery
separated from the main selling floor. Pieces are hung on the perimeter
walls and on display boards arranged down the center of the space. Simple
signage gives origin, approximate age, and the owner¹s name.
There are over one hundred kilims, bags, bagfaces, horsecovers, gabbeh, and
pile rugs at Minasian¹s, constituting one of the largest assemblages of
south Persian weavings ever shown in public, and it dovetails nicely with
Hamid Sadighi¹s "Nomadenlager" in Berlin two years ago. Curated by Joe
Fell, a retired Chicago rug dealer and one of the major lenders, the show is
heavy on pile rugs, but there are outstanding kilims and one show-stopping
horse cover. There is no catalogue, but Minasian¹s has made available a
handsome heavy paper brochure which illustrates fourteen of the pieces in
the show in very good color.
Among the pieces that left lasting impressions are a horsecover, probably
Khamseh, with sumak brocaded animals and birds on an aubergine plainweave
ground; a slit-tapestry kilim, probably Qashqa'i with two diamonds; a
Khamseh pile rug with large boteh on an ivory ground; a red and ivory
fifteen foot long pack band, and a red field Luri pilewoven khorjin face
with six roundels in a Mongol style.
Minasian¹s series of exhibitions, well worth a visit for any Middle Eastern
weaving enthusiast, will continue with a Kazak rug show in the future.
March 19, 2003, Mike Tschebull, Tschebull
Antique Carpets
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