Rug clubs and societies

The list of rug clubs and societies includes clubs from around the world who have been covered with articles in Jozan Magazine.

United States

Hajji Baba Club
The Hajji Baba Club is the oldest rug club in United States devoted to the study of oriental carpets and antique textiles. Hajji Baba Club was founded in New York City in 1932.

Timbuktu to Tibet: Rugs and Textiles of the Hajji Babas.

New England Rug Society
New England Rug Society (NERS) is founded in 1985 and has more than hundred members throughout New England. The members of New England Rug Society meet six to eight times each year often with external speakers.

Qashqai rug. ACOC 8 in Boston 2006 included an exhibition of rugs from members of New England Rug Society

Textile Museum Associates of Southern California
Textile Museum Associates of Southern California (TMA/SC), was founded in 1985. The Textile Museum Associates of Southern California presents educational programs, trips, and special events focused on handmade textiles, weavings, Oriental carpets and costumes from around the world.

Lecture “Thoughts about Turkmen Weavings” by Dr. Jon Thompson for the Textile Museum Associates of Southern California.

Armenian Rugs Society
The Armenian Rugs Society is a non-profit organization founded in Washington D.C., in 1980. The Armenian Rugs Society is dedicated to the knowledge of the cultural contributions made by Armenian weavers.

Armenian Safavid embroidery with a unique representation of Jonah and the Whale. Circa 1630. Armenian rugs exhibition in Vienna.

San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society
San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society (SFBARS)

Visit at Jim Dixon’s Occidental Carpet Palace 21 October 2009 sponsored by SFBars

Canada

Montreal Oriental Rug Society
The Montreal Oriental Rug Society ( MORS) is a club aggregation from the foundations of two earlier local rug groups.

Lecture “Textile Palimpsests” by Jaina Mishra for the Montreal Oriental Rug Society.

United Kingdom

The Oriental Rug and Textile Society of Great Britain
The Oriental Rug & Textile Society of Great Britain was established in 1977 to encourage enthusiasm and interest in carpets and textiles of Asia and the Middle East. The Society is now concerned with carpets and textiles of the whole world.

Seljuk Konya rugs – lecture by Roberta Marin in London 9 November 2022

Germany

Volkmanntreffen
The Volkmann-Meeting (Volkmanntreffen) is a casual get-together of Oriental carpet enthusiasts in the German-speaking world. Volkmanntreffen goes back 1971.

Which of these two rugs is a fake ? (slide from Stefano Ionescu’s presentation at Volkmann-Treffen 2012)

Belutschtreffen
The Baluch Meeting (Belutschtreffen) is an annual meeting for German-speaking Baluch collectors.

From the Windau Collection at the Baluch Meeting in Wuppertal 2012.

Austria

Austrian Society for Textile Art Research
The Austrian Society for Textile Art Research (TKF – Die Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Textil-Kunst-Forschung) was founded in 1982 as a non-profit association. The Austrian Society for Textile Art Research is among the oldest rug and textile societies in the world.

Denmark

Danish Rug Society
The purpose of the Danish Rug Society ((Dansk Selskab for Orientalsk Tæppekunst) is to spread the knowledge and understanding of oriental carpet art. Member meetings are held six to eight times each year.

Bakhtiari mafresh shown in a meeting about Bakhtiari rugs in the Danish Rug Society 2019.

Sweden

Pazyryk Oriental Rug Society
Pazyryk Oriental Rug Society (Orientmattsällskapet Pazyryk) in Stockholm is probably one of the largest rug societies in the world with 250 members.

Archive photo: Former chairman of Pazyryk Peter Willborg in his shop in Stockholm (Chahar Mahal Va Bakhtiari)

Gothenburg Rug Society
Gothenburg Rug Society (AKREP – Göteborgs Orientmattklubb), was a non-profit association and club for collectors of oriental rugs. Gothenburg Rug Society is not active at this moment.