It is an ancient skill, practiced by weavers over centuries in Afghanistan. Spinning and dying wool, weaving on looms, weavers form community bonds along with their tapestries and rugs. Maryam Omar is design center manager and carpet designer for Turquoise Mountain in Afghanistan, and she is bringing the work of several weavers to an exhibit at Ninth Wave Studio in Kalamazoo, curated by Nancy Payne and called “The Self Speaks.”
“Turquoise Mountain is an organization, a charity that was founded by His Majesty King Charles III and also the government of Afghanistan at that time [in 2006],” Omar says. “This is to revive historic areas and traditional crafts and to provide jobs for the local people in Kabul and the surrounding areas.”
Omar says she has been working with Turquoise Mountain since 2015. The carpet program is the latest program added, one of their newest. Omar’s background is in design, earning her education in London, then returning to Afghanistan to work.
“Taking in account the inspirations from Afghanistan and from the work that we do, from the people that we work with, then I create my designs based on that,” Omar says. “The one that you will see in the Self Speaks exhibition is a landscape, but we also have carpets—there are 24 carpets that are inspired by their songs, by their words. I use the landscapes because in some of their poetry we talk about the landscapes and the mountains and the water and the river.”
The handwoven carpets by the group of artisans that will be on exhibit were originally shown in another exhibit in Afghanistan, called Weaving Poems. Carpet weaving, Omar says, is a centuries-old tradition in Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan is one of those countries that has produced some of the best quality carpets,” she says. “One of the oldest carpets found is from that area. Traditionally, because this is such important work, the family will get together and make a prayer and distribute food to the neighbors. They will pray for the success of the project. Each carpet is produced inside the family home, and the women of the family will do the weaving. The men will be doing the dying of the wool.”
The Ninth Wave Studio exhibit, titled The Self Speaks, is curated by artist Nancy Payne. Eleven artists are participating including artist Maryam Omar. Maryam is the daughter-in-law of Kalamazoo artist Nancy Stroup. The exhibit opens during the November 1st Art Hop at 5 p.m.
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