06242015 Hammer Museum Exhibits Afghan Carpet Project Rugs

LOS ANGELES - The just-opened "Afghan Carpet Project" exhibition, which runs now through September 27, 2015 at the Hammer Museum in L.A., features six contemporary 6x8 rugs designed by Los Angeles-based contemporary artists and handmade by weavers in Afghanistan.  High-end rug studio Christopher Farr Rugs has underwritten the production, which is part of an ongoing effort to increase awareness of Afghanistan rug makers and weavers.  

The striking art rugs on exhibit carry contemporary designs by artists Lisa Anne Auerbach, Liz Craft, Meg Cranston, Francesca Gabbiani, Jennifer Guidi, and Toba Khedoori - all selected by Hammer museum director Ann Philbin and curator Ali Subotnick. The rugs were produced in editions of five. One of each design will be donated to the Hammer's permanent collection and one to each artist. The remaining rugs will be sold at Farr's Los Angeles rug gallery following the close of the show. The rugs are priced at $9,500 each.

According to a spokeswoman for Christopher Farr, a portion of the proceeds of the rug sales is earmarked for Arzu Studio Hope, an organization which established weaving studios in Afghanistan and provides fair wages, education and healthcare to its female weavers. The Hammer Museum exhibition was initiated by AfghanMade, an agency formed to revitalize the war-ravaged nation's traditional industries, and also serves as a vehicle for placing Afghan weavers on international stage in an effort to boost trade and bring employment to the nation's mostly female weavers. 

"We have always been interested in finding new and better ways to make things while respecting the traditions of the craft - which is what prompted this collaboration with AfghanMade," Farr notes. AfghanMade CEO Lisa Sanchez enlisted Farr's London-based business partner Matthew Bourne, and Farr in turn reached out to a colleague with ties to the Hammer.  "We are now starting to see a new emerging group of entrepreneurs who have a drive for success.  With connection to international businesses, the carpet industry in Afghanistan is adapting to modern trends," Sanchez told RugNews.com. In an interesting aside, at Domotex in January, Afghan carpet makers noted a pickup in business over the prior year, closing deals worth $3.6 million, according to U.S. government agency U.S. AID.

The culmination of a more than a year-long effort by the artists, the Afghan Carpet Project began with their trip to Afghanistan in March 2014 to visit weavers in Kabul and Bamiyan. Following the visit, each artist came up with an original design for her carpet - some reflecting upon the experience and others derived out of the artists' respective practices.

"We hosted the artists in Afghanistan," says Suzana Rizzo, vice president of sales and business development at Chicago-area Arzu Studio Hope, a not-for-profit organization that sells Afghan-made rugs. "The show helps what we are doing in Afghanistan. We have successfully operated there for 10 years. Obviously there are a lot of challenges to doing business in Afghanistan - we don't have a port, so shipping is more difficult, and the cost is more expensive. But people want to support these women and families."

AfghanMade, which has helped create the infrastructure needed for international rug makers to do business in the country, has sponsored projects with hand-made rug studios in the past including an event at the 2014 edition of furnishings fair Salone International in Milan. Christopher Farr, Oritop, James Opie Collection, Matt Camron Rugs & Tapestries and Eliko Rugs participated in that event.

AfghanMade, a non-profit organization which grew out of a U.S. Department of Defense program, is now an independent non-profit organization. "The DOD established an organization called the Task Force for Stability Operations which was meant to stimulate the economy through the private sector," Sanchez said, noting that the Task Force had a carpet initiative that assisted with infrastructure building, training, and towards the end, international connections in which AfghanMade was established. "When the Task Force shut down its operations in December, 2014 AfghanMade carried on as a non-profit." Sanchez explained.

"We work with Afghan carpet manufacturers and connect them with international clients while providing quality control.  The climate is not stable enough for carpet makers to do business on their own, which is why AfghanMade is a great organization to connect with.  We are in Afghanistan every month to assist both Afghans and their international clients," she said.

06.24.15