New Haven, CT, Oct. 6--John P. Kebabian Jr. was delighted to receive 50 bales of rugs over the summer from Afghanistan, according to the New Haven Register. The last time the owner of Kebabian’s received a shipment of rugs woven in Afghanistan was 40 years ago.
"These are ethnic products," said Kebabian, noting that the rugs tell the story of the people who weave them. "They are beautiful."
The chaos of war followed by the terror of the Taliban made it impossible for the weavers to carry on their ancient craft. Kebabian has received rugs in recent years made by Afghan weavers who resettled in Pakistan, but experts do not consider those to be as authentic as rugs actually woven in Afghanistan. That’s because dyes and wools reflect the land they come from. The summer shipment follows the United States’ ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
"My suppliers in Pakistan are trying to resettle in Afghanistan," he said. About 200 of the Hazara Afghans who weave for the Kebabians have moved back to Kabul, the capital. "It will bring much-needed cash to the economy," Kebabian said.
The Afghan weavers spent decades in Pakistan, fleeing civil war, a Soviet invasion and the Taliban dictatorship. In the 1990s, war rugs woven by Afghans depicting weapons and violence helped the world see how the Afghan population suffered and set a higher profile for Afghans. Today, one way the U.S. government is helping to rebuild Afghanistan is by promoting the sale of Afghan rugs in the U.S., and urging Afghan weavers to return to their homeland.
In a report by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul dated May 2002, "Reviving the Afghan Carpet Industry," the embassy said that "the largely expatriate Afghan carpet industry must be enticed to return to Afghanistan from abroad--mostly Pakistan."
But the report acknowledged Afghans would still need to find a way to send rugs overseas. Kebabian said the bales he received this summer were taken to Pakistan by road and then airlifted out by a Pakistani exporter. He opens the bales as he sells the carpets, and he opened the last bale in late September. Kebabian said it may soon be time for another of his carpet-buying sprees abroad.
He travels to the rug-producing countries--India, Nepal, Pakistan--to meet with the weavers and select each rug. Donning native dress, a pale tunic over light pants, he drinks tea with the weavers in their tents.
"I grow my beard out and I blend in pretty well," he said.
He stopped going after Sept. 11, 2001. But he learned about the terror of the Taliban long before that day. His weavers include many of the Hazara, a tribe persecuted by the Taliban for practicing a different version of Islam. After the Taliban took over, Kebabian began hearing stories from the weavers on how the Taliban used amputation as a means of discipline. Despite the dangers, the weavers pursued their dying art by fleeing over the mountains to Pakistan. Pakistan is home to what rug dealers consider some of the most sophisticated rug weaving. Flipping through a batch of rugs, Kebabian said the Afghan style has changed over the years. The designs are different from the crude geometric patterns he’d seen in the past. He thinks the quality has improved as well.
"They must have picked up some techniques during their time in Pakistan," he said. Not everyone can be described as a fan of the Afghan rugs. The owners of other well-established Oriental rug stores in the area, Arakelian Rugs and Kaoud Oriental Rugs, said they do not favor the Afghan rugs.
"They are coarser, not that refined. Some people find that appealing," said John Balayan Jr., the third-generation owner of Arakelian Rugs in New Haven. He said he carries a few rugs woven in the Afghan style to keep these customers happy. So far Afghanistan’s rug production has been but a trickle.
"They don’t produce enough for me to import," said John Kaoud of Kaoud Oriental Rugs in Orange. But Kebabian sees the rugs as art capturing the flavor of a people’s way of life, whether they be Tibetan refugees in Nepal’s highlands or Turkmen nomads roaming southern Iran. In many ways, his trade reflects his own heritage.
Kebabian’s great-great uncle migrated from Turkey to attend Yale University. His family sold their first carpets in Vermont to help pay tuition for a preparatory school and then for Yale. He opened Kebabian’s in 1882. Kebabian bought the store from his father, who bought the store from his father, who bought the store from his uncle. Together the Kebabians have kept alive a tradition of hand-knotted, naturally dyed Oriental rugs woven by nomads still following their ancient way of life.
