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Afghan rugs are a deceptively simple categorization of a number of
very distinct weaving styles that incorporate different colors,
weaving techniques and styles. The Afghan rugs that make their way
to the United States are often the product of displaced refugees
working in Pakistan and Iran, or slowly sifting their way back
into Afghanistan. Like any other art, those who create it are
influenced by the things that they see and hear around them,
including the rug designs being created by other artists in their
area.
Traditional Afghan area rugs are created in tribal patterns that
have been handed down from generation to generation. While we
refer to them as Afghan 'rugs', many serve other purposes than
carpeting. An 'engsi', for instance, is an Afghan rug that's meant
to serve as a cover over the entrance of a tent door. Along with
the engsi, a young Afghani girl might also have woven a 'kapunuk',
a shaped Afghan rug that is designed to fit over and around the
door to the tent. Hand-woven bag fronts and decorated woven bands
for use in ornamenting walls of tents are also common, and
commonly sold here as 'Afghan rugs'.
For many Afghani women, widowed by the ongoing wars that have
ravaged Afghanistan, weaving rugs is one of the few sources of
income available. Many labor for up to a year on a single
hand-knotted Afghan rug - or create smaller pieces to sell at
bazaar or to foreigners who come to markets. Far too often, the
price paid for their work is negligible - but the Afghan rugs that
they sell are resold for thousands on the open market.
Chicago philanthropist Connie Duckworth traveled to Afghanistan
several years ago, and what she saw there 'touched my heart', she
says. Upon her return, Duckworth founded Arzu, Inc., a Chicago
based non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and help
Afghani women through the purchase and resale of Afghan rugs. In
the process, the organization funds schools and literacy programs
and supports female rug weavers with quality materials and a
market that pays fair value for their work.
Arzu means 'hope' in Dari, the main language in Afghanistan, and
that is what Duckworth is spreading among the returning refugees
in the war-torn land. Arzu pays Afghan rugs exporters to supply
the finest materials available to women who join the program -
yarns and dyes as well as traditional Afghan rug patterns. In
return for their participation, the women agree to attend a
literacy program and to send their children to school -
particularly their daughters. When each Afghan rug is completed,
Arzu pays one half the expected market price of the rug to the
woman up front, then sells the rugs at charity auctions. The rest
of the proceeds for the sales of the Afghan rugs funds literacy
efforts.
A recent auction sold 13 handmade Afghan rugs and netted $43,000
that will be used to educational and health services for the
families who are part of the project. Arzu is an example of grass
roots charity at its best, building on the strengths of a people
to mend and strengthen its weaknesses. With 120 families enrolled
in the program already, Duckworth hopes that their success will
spur others to join, and looks forward to the day when her efforts
pay off in helping to rebuild Afghanistan, one Afghan rug at a
time.
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Afghan rugs
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