Verses II, by Faheema Eissar
When we talked, I told him about my healing journey through Art Therapy, which inspired him to create a few pieces. This piece he shared with me says ‘Don’t go without me. Or don’t leave me alone here. Or don’t leave me behind.’ ...Many people faced systematic discrimination and so many were forced out again. They truly have the question ‘where is home?’ And I do too. Where do I really belong? Where do I really call home? Where will I ever settle and feel the peace, I have craved all my life?

Verses, by Faheema Eissar

By the age of seven, I was weaving carpets 16 hours a day and had become the principal source of income for my family. My father, who had been a general under a previous government, was a marked man. Our family was repeatedly forced to flee...

These textiles were not made for the surrounding markets, rather as household items, woven by the women of the family. Persian weddings practice this tradition with a multitude of symbolic elements.

These rugs depict feelings of opposition by the women weavers through thematic war designs. Living in a war-torn country, everything these women saw - tanks, military vehicles, assault rifles, helicopters, etc. - made their way into the rugs. 

To be candid, kilims could be some of the most artistic rugs to date. They are made from a blend of cultures, nomads passing through lands during migrations, sharing ideas and designs, and there are UNLIMITED designs. 

Classifying rugs as Shiraz is misleading; according to several authors no actual rugs were made in Shiraz itself. 

Red is a widely used color, ranging anywhere from pale pink, red orange to bright magenta.

Animals play a key part in the development of hand-made rugs.

As our Rustigian community already knows, the city of Shiraz once produced the finest wine in the world, dating back to 9th century Persia. In a way, you can consider these carriers a homage to their historical roots.

He was aghast at the thought of sitting next to me, the un-shrouded western woman. All boarding stopped while the family rearranged itself so that I had two female seat-mates in my row.

As told by Roz Rustigian…

They're colorful and they're cheerful. They make you smile. That's pretty typical. And the people that sell them to me could not be nicer, could not be sweeter. They know tragedy and they know triumph. I think that comes through in their art. I really do. They're everything that a handmade rug should be. The wool quality is superb, and the craftsmanship is superb. Rugs from Afghanistan sell themselves. I don't have to sell them.

As told by Roz Rustigian…

“Rustigian Rugs was established by V. George Rustigian in 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression. "Rusty" started the business in 1930, which is approximately two decades before I emerged onto the scene. So my understanding is that his mother was connected to rug dealers in New York and that after the depression hit, he dropped out of Harvard Law School and took the rugs from his relatives in order to start the business. And that's how it happened.

In her own words, the owner of Rustigian Rugs on the East Side of Providence shares her most prized discovery.

About 20 years ago I was in New York on a rug hunt for fine older carpet. I did the usual rounds and ended my day on 31^st street with my friend Mike from Apadana. He had the typical old rug business in mid-town Manhattan and the rugs were folded and piled almost to the ceiling on a plethora of pallets. I had learned how to scan a pile, so I politely refused any assistance. I started examining my 8^th stack from the ceiling to the floor and stopped at the fourth rug from the bottom.

Rosalind “Roz” Rustigian is probably one of the most successful specialist rug retailers in the US. Her knowledge of antique rugs and rug-making is unmatched, thus she was twice elected President of the Oriental Rug Retailers of America. 

As told by Roz Rustigian…

I have so many stories to tell about being a woman in the rug business that I could keep you here all day. I developed a pretty thick skin early on because a female in the rug business was just an outrageous rarity.

I first attended the Atlanta Market in January 1985.  The second floor was abuzz with excitement as importers – then almost exclusively from New York – crowded the temporary exhibition space in the Americanized version of a middle eastern bazaar.  The corridors of floors four thru six were packed with buyers, shoulder to shoulder, seeking fashion forward trends in wall to wall carpet and machine made area rugs.

The world of rugs had been discovered by a growing population interested in keeping up with the Joneses and displaying their own entry into what was heretofore the rarified atmosphere of interior design and mass availability...