Travel Why carpets are important to Turkish people “Our ancestors travelled here as nomadic tribes fromMongolia and China,” said Dilek. “They brought their custom of weaving rugs with them. Throughout our history, we’ve woven rugs for tents, to cover horses and for dowries.” Dilek has vivid memories of her family weaving. “I recall my mother and aunties sitting side by side, weaving big carpets at large looms and small carpets on little looms.” With Dilek, we visited a government-sponsored weaving co-operative created to pass on the craft of weaving to young women, and encourage them to become entrepreneurs. “Carpet prices and quality are good here, but you are under no obligation to buy,” she said. “If you want to purchase one, remember that bargaining is a tradition here. I can help you if you prefer. If the carpet is too big for you to carry home, don’t worry. The Turkish government charges no tax and pays shipping costs to support carpet-weaving in the country.” Dilek introduced us to Mr. Hakan, who showed us a bowl of silk cocoons. “Turkey is number two in the world after China for silk production,” he said. “The average cocoon contains 1.5 kilometres of silk fibre in a single thread but, if you try to pull it out, you’ll break it.” He showed us a centuries-old method of extracting the thread. After boiling the cocoons in a large metal bowl to soften them, he used a handmade brush to pick up the threads. He then attached the fibres to a wooden spinning wheel that spun them into silk thread. Woven storybooks We entered a roomwith large carpets hanging on the walls. As we sat on padded benches, staff offered us and other visitors glasses of green apple tea. Other staffmembers unfurled roll after roll of carpets, stacking them on top of each other. Our heads spun with the dazzling variety of colours, sizes and patterns. “We sell both machine-made and handmade carpets here,” saidMr. Hakan. “Do you know how to tell them apart?” He answered his own question as he folded over a corner of a handmade carpet. “You can’t fold the corner on a machine-made carpet. Equipment inserts threads through holes in their synthetic bases.” Rotating a small carpet around like pizza dough, he showed us how the colours changed, depending on the nap and the direction of the light. He advised us to take off our shoes and walk on the carpets with bare feet to feel the differences between them. As we walked around, we noticed how the colours and patterns changed. A savvy salesman approached us and asked: “Which one do you like the best? What size do you need? Perhaps you want just a little carpet?” When we replied that they were all beautiful, but that we weren’t interested in buying anything, he switched from selling to educational mode. Pointing to one carpet, he explained how the motifs told stories from the book 1,001 Arabian Nights. On other carpets, he deciphered symbols, such as a bird in flight. “It indicates the arrival of good news,” he said. “And this sheaf of grain represents abundance.” His enthusiasm soon influenced the way in which we regarded Turkish carpets. We started looking at them as woven storybooks, rather than just ornamental floor and wall coverings. Mr. Hakan picks up silk threads with a brush Weaving a carpet at a governmentsponsored co-operative Staff serve glasses of green apple tea Staff show carpets to visitors Walking barefoot on carpet Raw and boiled silk cocoons CSANews | WINTER 2019 | 19
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