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Boukhara's Carpets by Richard Manin
In Turkmenistan, carpet is not considered as a decorating object you put on the floor and just trample under foot. Born in the ancient occidental turkestan, in the Karakoum desert, carpet is the memory of the past. It reveales the history, the daily life of a nomadic population since the 2nd century. The carpet is the center of the house. It is the place where people sleep, eat, speak, and also pray. The carpet shows the social level of its owner and it is part of all the ceremonies : weddings, birthdays, deaths,... When Marco Polo visited Turkmenistan during the XIIIth century, he admired the carpets and noted “I have seen the most finest and beautiful carpets of the world”.
For many centuries, carpets in Turkmenistan were handmadeby women, according to a very specific technique. Squattinq during months, bending over the horizontal weaving loom, the turkmen weaver can realize between 260,00 to 640,000 knots per square meter ! The more knots, the more the carpet is fine, supple and the more the lines of its pattern are refined.
And turkmenistan can be very proud. They have the biggest carpet ever made in the world. It is a “Chef d’oeuvre” of 190 square meters, resulting from the work of 36 weavers during 8 months.
