Photos and article by Mike Tschebull
As I saw it, the Kaitag exhibition at the Omni Hotel was the best of the lot.
The pieces themselves were hung in a harmonious way in a coherent space, they were very compelling textiles to view, they were small enough so that lighting was adequate, and each was on a stretcher, so the viewing plane was flat. I congratulate the curators and the lenders.
The Burns exhibition of Kurdish rugs was stimulating and eclectic.
The NYC portion of ICOC X was a great deal of fun, and was organized flawlessly by Marilyn Wolf. In two very busy days, we visited the Hispanic Society in upper Manhattan to view Spanish rugs, with Sally Sherrill as our very knowledgeable guide, were treated to a show of the Wolf’s suzani collection at Sotheby’s, toured the Metropolitan Museum’s conservation facilities, viewed the Brooklyn Museum’s rug and carpet collection, where rugs and fragments were laid out especially for us, and visited two galleries in Soho to see Turkmen and Baluch collections.
The Hajji Baba dinner on the first evening was festive and their exhibition was well worth seeing. There were many outstanding pieces, all tacked on the wall just for the evening. Two of the best were a Sarkisla fragment, belonging to Dewitt Mallary and a fragment of a broad Kyrgyz pile tent band, belonging to Mae Festa.
May 7th, 2003, Mike Tschebull, Tschebull Antique Carpets