Afghan war rugs in Smithsonian
Since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Turkmen weavers have woven "war rugs" that depict machines of war, battle maps, and even 9/11. Interestingly, the rugs depicting the planes crashing into the Twin Towers are based on images from US propaganda leaflets dropped on Afghanistan. The new issue of Smithsonian explores this incredibly interesting art form. From the article:
Previously on BB:
• Afghan rugs depict Twin Towers Link
LinkThese rugs, principally woven by women of the Turkman culture, often include red or yellow hues and are peppered with large weapons, military vehicles and English phrases such as "Hand Bom [Bomb]," "Rooket [Rocket]" and "Made in Afghanistan."
To many, this script is a firm indication of the rugs' intended audience: Westerners, and in particular, Americans, who funded the Afghan resistance—the Mujahadeen—during the Soviet occupation. "The rugs are geared for a tourist market," says Margaret Mills, a folklorist at Ohio State University who has conducted research in Afghanistan since 1974. "And they verbally address this market." Sediq Omar, a rug merchant from Herat who dealt in war rugs during and after the Soviet occupation, agrees. "Afghanis don't want to buy these," he says. "They're expensive for them. It's the Westerners who are interested."
While this may be true, it's likely that the first "hidden" war rugs from the early 1980s were meant for fellow Afghanis, according to Hanifa Tokhi, an Afghan immigrant who fled Kabul after the Soviet invasion and now lives in northern California. "Later on, they made it commercialized when they found out that people were interested," she says. "But at the beginning, it was to show their hatred of the invasion. I know the Afghan people, and this was their way to fight."
Previously on BB:
• Afghan rugs depict Twin Towers Link
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How long before Bill O'Reilly accuses the Smithsonian of being traitors simply for documenting this?
Hah! The War on Rugs!
I have one of these. The quality isn't so good. The dyes are all synthetic, too. But it doesn't look bad. It has tanks and rocket launchers and stuff.
I saw rugs like this prominently for sale at the Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson, AZ last week.
back in the early 80's, right after all this cold war hype, my dad had a pretty popular restaurant right on M street in Georgetown... (we're afghan btw)
anyway, pretty much all I remember from it was the giant rugs he had hanging from the walls. some were generic persian-like rugs, but some depicted epic scenes of buzkashi games and such... this article reminded me of that for some reason.
actually, now that I think about it, they were paintings.
oh well. nostalgia ftw
"Interestingly, the rugs depicting the planes crashing into the Twin Towers are based on images from US propaganda leaflets dropped on Afghanistan."
so... we gave them the idea?
SNACKCAKE (#6), According to the article I link to in the post, the Twin Tower imagery was based on "U.S. propaganda leaflets dropped from the air by the thousands to explain to Afghanis the reason for the 2001 American invasion."
I have an Afghan rug with helicopters and Kalashnikovs on it.very nice it is too.
My friends Joel* and Hillary have a great one with helicopters and Kashnikovs on it too. I'm hoping to find some if I make it to Afghanistan this year. Maybe I can pay some of my trip costs by putting them on eBay.
I had some copies of the "Osama vs USA" game on eBay but they started canceling them. I wonder if they'd do the same to these rugs.
* Joel is in Sacramento's nerdiest band The 4-Eyes. thefoureyes.com
Wild. I saw this exact rug hanging on someone's cubicle at work today (I work for an engineering and security company that does a fair amount of demining work in Afghanistan).
The war rugs' combination of a medium and patterns steeped in history with contemporary imagery is what makes them important, imho. Designs and images dating to 5th century BC Greek vases are found alongside helicopters, tanks and RPGs. I'm not talking about WTC rugs now, but those tied intimately to traditional local patterns. I know of no other contemporary art which reaches so far back in history and yet remains unmistakably contemporary.
David and Sanckcake,
A couple of years ago I put together this page showing the PSYOP leaflets and the rugs using PSYOP imagery.
@KEVIN_SUDEITH (#11), Great page. Thanks for sharing the link with us.
My Dad used to collect Persian-type rugs (of course they're not all Persian) and we were very surprised the first time we realized one of our smallest Afghan rugs included stylized tanks and guns next to traditional geometric designs. That was in the late eighties - early nineties, pre-first Irak war I would say. Probably tied in to the Mujahidin conflict?
Like Kevin says, modern, war items "tied intimately to traditional local patterns". We have since lost that rug, sadly, but it was my favorite for a long time.