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Past Events at The Magic Carpet
Saturday, November 3rd 2007
OUR FAMILIES PILGRIMAGE INTO THE HEART OF INDIA
Dear Oriental Rug Lovers,
Please join us on Saturday, November 3rd at 7 PM for a most unique rug exhibit and multi media travelogue titled, Our Families Pilgrimage Into the Heart of India.
We will be sharing photos from our families' recent extraordinary journey that led us to the ancient city of Rishikesh on the banks of the Mother Ganges and then to the sacred temple of Badrinath which is nestled within the towering Himalayan Ranges. We trekked on into the incredible Valley of the Flowers which was bursting forth with multitudes of gorgeous blossoms. Leaving the Himalayas, we headed south to Sathya Sai Baba's Ashram where we deepened our inner experiences. We look forward to sharing this journey with you!
In our rug exhibit, we will feature the beautiful and durable rugs made by the Zamin Project located in Northern India. is project only uses the best long-staple New Zealand wool that has been hand-carded, hand-spun and vegetable dyed - befitting the name 'Zamin' which mean earth. We will also be featuring exquisite Afghan Barakat cultural survival rugs.
Also in this exhibit, we will be displaying museum-quality ceremonial and dowry embroideries of Gujarat, India. It is our intention that this exhibit reflect India's soul-inspired creative genius.
As many of you know, India has just experienced a devastating monsoon season that has seriously polluted their drinking water. To help alleviate this condition, we will be donating and raising money towards the expansion of the Solutions Benefiting Life's water-filter project into these effected areas.
We look forward to sharing this journey with you!
| Travelogue: OUR FAMILIES PILGRIMAGE INTO THE HEART OF INDIA Exhibit: FLOWERS FROM THE EAST - CARPETS AND TEXTILES |
Saturday, November 3rd at 7PM at the Magic Carpet |
Saturday, May 12th 2007
A JOURNEY - NATURE, WEAVERS AND THE CARPETS
Dear Oriental Rug Lovers,
Please join us on Saturday, May 12th at 7PM for another special rug exhibit and multimedia travelogue: A Journey- Nature, Weavers and The Carpets. This presentation will feature photos from Tibet, Nepal, India and recent images of northern Afghanistan. We will also show current photos of the successful water filter projects of Nepal and India that we have been supporting.
Our exhibit will feature a collection of some of the finest Cultural Survival rugs woven in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. All of these rugs are made with hand-carded, hand-spun wools and colored with a magnificent palette of vegetable dyes.
| Exhibit: A JOURNEY - NATURE, WEAVERS AND THE CARPETS Video travelogue, Educational Lecture, Exhibit and Refreshments |
Saturday, May 12th at 7PM at the Magic Carpet |
Saturday Nov 4th, 2006
WOVEN GARDENS: NEW AND ANTIQUE VILLAGE RUGS
Dear Oriental Rug Lovers,
Please join us on Saturday, November 4th at 6:30 in our expanded Magic Carpet Gallery for a unique cultural evening that includes an exhibit and lecture, Woven Gardens - New and Antique Village Rugs. We will also view excerpts from a remarkable documentary portraying the migration of the Bhaktiari people of Iran with their 50,000 animals to their summer pasture. This incredible journey across raging rivers and the rugged Zagros Mountains reveals the spirit of community, the endurance and integrity, inherent in these people. These distinctive characteristics are wonderfully reflected in our current exhibit of antique to present day village masterpieces.
We have just returned from an extensive buying trip where we handpicked a magnificent collection, mats to room size, of cultural survival rugs from Nepal, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as stunning antique Persian and Caucasian rugs. All these rugs use only the finest hand-carded and hand-spun wools with a magnificent palette of vegetable dyes and 100% of the wholesale profits benefit the weaving communities.
We are also pleased to announce that we have recently updated our web site with photos of our current collection. You can now peruse our educational material and purchase from our on-line gallery of rugs, statues and textiles.
| Exhibit: WOVEN GARDENS: NEW AND ANTIQUE VILLAGE RUGS Educational Lecture and Documentary Showing - "People of the Wind" |
Saturday, Nov 4, 2006 6:30 PM at The Magic Carpet
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Saturday May 6, 2006
ORIENTAL RUGS - SYMBOLS, COLOR AND DESIGNDear Oriental Rug Lovers,
Gala opening of our new expanded gallery. Please join us on Saturday, May 6th, 2006 at 7PM as we explore the fascinating world of Symbols, Color and Design in old and new Oriental rugs as well as Navajo rugs. Man has always sought to understand and express himself through the language of symbols and the power inherent in color and design. Throughout this evening, we will focus our attention on how this expression has been presented masterfully throughout the centuries in Oriental rugs and Navajo rugs. In this exhibit, Oriental Rugs - Symbols, Color and Design, we will now be able to peruse over 50 extraordinary rugs!
We have just returned from an extensive buying trip where we handpicked a remarkable collection, mats to room size, of cultural survival rugs from Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as well as incredible antique Persian and Caucasian rugs. Included in this shipment are the prized Afghan Turkmen Ersari rugs. All these rugs use only the finest hand-carded and hand-spun wools with a magnificent palette of vegetable dyes and 100% of the wholesale profits benefit the weaving communities. Recently we have been inspired by an original American art form and have selected pristine and dynamic antique Navajo rugs that will also be part of our exhibit. We look forward to sharing these works of art with you in our our beautiful and spacious Magic Carpet Gallery.
| Exhibit: ORIENTAL RUGS - SYMBOLS, COLOR AND DESIGN Educational Lecture, Exhibit and Refreshments |
Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 7PM at the Magic Carpet |
Saturday, Nov 5, 2005
THE PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL PROJECTS
Please join us on Saturday, November 5th at 7PM for a unique rug exhibit and multimedia travelogue focusing on The People, Environment and Cultural Survival Projects. During this evening, we will journey from Afghanistan, through Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Tibet with a power-point presentation focusing on Chris Walter’s recent travels to the various Cultural Survival Projects that he founded. Our exhibit, then, will feature a collection of magnificent hand-carded, hand-spun and vegetable-dyed rugs from the Ersari Project of Afghanistan, The Zamin Project of India, the Tibet and Barakat Projects as well as the DOBAG Cooperatives of Turkey. As many of you know, these rugs literally sparkle because of the integrity, quality and character with which they were woven. Their lustrous wool and beautiful dyes capture the shade and feel of old rugs. These rugs will truly be the antiques of the future.
In celebration of our 25th Anniversary, we have acquired a wonderful collection of old engraved copper Persian vessels, one-of-a kind silver and stone jewelry from India and a magnificent sampling of rugs from around the world. We look forward to sharing these with you!
| Multimedia Travelogue: THE PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL PROJECTS Educational Lecture, Exhibit and Refreshments |
Saturday, November 5th at 7PM at the Magic Carpet |
Saturday, May 7, 2005
RUGS, WOMEN AND TIBETAN EDUCATION
Please join us on Saturday, May 7th at 7 PM for a unique Tibetan rug exhibit and educational lecture, Rugs, Women and Tibetan Education by Paul and Eileen Jorgensen and PhD. Candidate, Losang Rabgey. Losang is the
current director of the Tibetan Project for Cultural Survival and will be presenting a lecture and powerpoint presentation
on their current programs in education, health, cultural expression and environmental stewardship. Our rug exhibit will
feature many exquisite rugs with designs, motifs and vegetable dyed colors that mirror the history of Tibet and its
unique environment.
We invite you to a special Mother’s Day presentation,
which will explore the rural life and culture of Tibetan women today.
The Magic Carpet will be donating a percentage of the profits from this sale to help support this high-minded project
with its focus on the betterment of the Tibetan community.
| RUGS, WOMEN AND TIBETAN EDUCATION Saturday, May 7th, 2005 at 7 PM at the Magic Carpet Educational Lecture, Exhibit and Refreshments |
Saturday, May 7th, 2005 at 7 PM at the Magic Carpet |
| THE WOMEN OF TIBET: A POETIC LOOK | Sunday, May 8th, 2005 1 to 3 PM at Keeping Still Mountain Tea Shop |
Friday, November 5, 2004
The Oldest Rug in Existence - The PAZYRYK...
and TREE OF LIFE RUGS
Please join us for two fascinating programs this fall at The Magic Carpet. Our first event will feature Pazyryk and Tree of Life Rugs. During our December event we will present a DOBAG exhibit, lecture and rug weaving demonstration. We are privileged to be working with some of the most successful Cultural Survival Projects from which we have specially commissioned a unique collection of magnificent hand-carded, hand-spun and vegetable dyed rugs for these exhibits.
| DOBAG Rug Weaving Demonstrations | Thursday, Dec. 9th 3pm to 7pm Friday, Dec. 10th 10am to 4pm |
| DISCUSSION on DOBAG'S MOTIFS and SYMBOLS - Lecture and Demonstration | Friday, December 10th at 7pm |
Friday, November 7, 2003
Ersari Cultural
Survival Rugs for the 21st Century
We are proud to bring this hand-picked collection of Afghan Turkmen Ersari rugs
to our community. We consider these to be the best hand-carded, hand-spun and
vegetable-dyed Ersari (one branch of the Turkmen people) rugs being woven today.
These rugs literally sparkle because of the integrity, quality and character
with which they were woven. Their lustrous wool and beautiful dyes capture the
shade and feel of the old rugs and each is signed and dated by the weaver.
In 1988, Chris Walter founded the Cultural Survival Ersari Project with
Turkmen refugees in North Pakistan. His inspiration to form this non-profit organization
came from his passion to help in the protection of endangered peoples and cultures
throughout the world. All the wholesale profits from this project are being used
to build schools and provide food and health care for these weaving families
and the surrounding communities. At present, there are hundreds of students in
three schools that are being supported by this project.
Come and help us celebrate out 24th anniversary. We have greatly expanded our
collection of beautiful new and antique rugs and look forward to sharing them
with you.
Friday, May 30th 2003
Cultural Survival Rugs: An Investment in Our Future
Educational Lecture, Exhibit and Refreshments
Join us on Friday, May 30th at 7PM as we focus on our
newest exhibit, Cultural Survival Rugs: An Investment in Our
Future. We will be sharing
our passion and involvement with Chris Walter’s three
non-profit organizations, which are producing over 500 magnificent
designs using only the finest hand carded and hand spun wools with
a dazzling array of vegetable dyes. We are highly impressed with
the integrity, quality and beauty of these rugs with many having
the appearance
of 80-year-old masterpieces. The wholesale profits of these rugs
are being used to build schools, provide food and health care to
weaving
communities and fund reforestation projects. Some of the funds are
also being used to help save endangered habitats in conjunction with
The Nature Conservancy.
We have just returned from a buying trip where we handpicked over
100 of these remarkable cultural survival rugs that were woven in
Nepal, India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan. We also brought back a marvelous collection of antique masterpieces
that we are excited to be sharing with you.
The effectiveness of the humanitarian efforts of Chris Walter and the DOBAG Rug
Weaving Cooperative of Turkey has inspired us to establish a charitable trust
in which we will donate a percentage of our profits to support children’s
education in rural India. To learn more about all these projects and
to see many of the rugs, statues and textiles in
our shop, we invite you to peruse our state of the art website designed by
our son, Josh, at www.themagiccarpet.biz.
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Tuesday, October 29th 2002
Cultural Survival Projects for the 21st Century:
DOBAG & Yayla
Join us to welcome Cennett Denari, master weaver and
professor Serefe Atlan, chair of the Fine Arts Department of Marmara
University, as we explore the ancient art of weaving with traditional
Turkish designs.
This summer we attended the DOBAG cooperative
symposium in Turkey to celebrate the success of this ongoing cultural
survival program. For the last twenty years, a number of small villages
on the Aegean peninsula, under the auspices of the University of Marmara,
joined together to revive the lost art of hand spinning, vegetable dying
and hand knotting of Oriental rugs. During our visit we were able to
experience the profound impact that this cooperative has had on the
villages. DOBAG has invigorated the arts and crafts genius of the Turkish
villagers, while revitalizing the weaving industry and creating the
finest carpets in Turkey today. Since our last visit five years ago,
we were greatly impressed by the improvements to the social and economic
environment in the villages.
We will also be featuring rugs from other exceptional cultural survival
programs: The Barakat, Tibetan and Ersari Cultural Survival Projects. These projects are creating incredibly beautiful
rugs also using vegetable dyes and hand spun wool to fund the building
of schools and health care centers as well as work on environmental
projects.
| DOBAG Rug Weaving Demonstrations | Monday, October 28th 10:30 to 5
PM and 7 to 9 PM Tuesday, October 29th 10:30 to 5 PM |
Friday, May 17th 2002
 |
Art Treasures for the Altar the Door and the
Floor
Join us on Friday, May 17th for a cultural evening featuring the music,
dance and poetry of the East followed by a lecture focusing on our new
exhibit: Art Treasures for the Altar the Door and the Floor.
We will be showing masterpieces from two wonderful cultural survival
projects both of which are using vegetable dyes and hand-spun wool.
These non-profit weaving projects are involved in providing services
that are benefiting the refugees and rug weavers of Afghanistan, Tibet, India and Turkey. We are excited to be associated
with such socially conscious programs.
Rounding out our evening we will peruse our latest collection of museum-quality
antique Indian and Nepali statuary as
well as our latest acquisition of stunning Gujarati embroideries.
We are proud to announce the launching of our new state-of-the-art web
site designed by our son Josh. You can now purchase from our ever-expanding on-line gallery of rugs, statues
and textiles as well as peruse our educational material.
Sunday, October 28th 2001
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DOBAG: Craftswomen Changing The World
On October 28, Turkish Master Weaver, Cennett Denari,
from the DOBAG Cooperative will set up her loom
in the Magic Carpet and be weaving one of the world-famous DOBAG rugs.
She will be joined by Professor Serife Atlihan from the University of
Marmara in Istanbul who oversees the village production and is an expert
on motifs and symbols of DOBAG rugs. Serife will explain how this university-sponsored
project has been instrumental in conserving their folk art tradition
while restoring the integrity of village life.
The DOBAG Project, by bringing back the traditional methods of hand
carting, hand spinning and the vegetable dying of wool, has revolutionized
the rug weaving industry.
We have gathered together many beautiful DOBAG rugs as well as a stunning
selection of over 200 brass and bronze Indian statuary.
We want to thank all of you who have made the last 22 years so enjoyable
and look forward to seeing you soon.
| DOBAG Rug Weaving Demonstration | Sunday, October 28th, 12 Noon to 7 PM |
Friday, June 1st 2001
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The Ancient Arts of India
Join us on Friday, June 1st at 7PM for a lecture focusing
on our new exhibit, 'The Ancient Arts of India.'
On our recent trip to India, we were given an incredible opportunity
to purchase a large collection of museum-quality ceremonial and dowry embroideries from the Rabari and Ahir
communities who live in the Kutch and Saurasthra regions of Gujarat.
The women of Gujarat have an ancient tradition of producing some of
the finest needlework in the world. These fine embroideries were intricately
and colorfully decorated to commemorate their special occasions. This
rare eye-dazzling display comes to Nevada County at a time when the
recent Gujarat earthquake destroyed many of the villages and the people
whose handiwork we will be exhibiting. In honor and appreciation of
their artistry, ten percent of this sale will be donated to the Sathya
Sai Baba relief effort that is underway right now in India.
We also were fortunate to find more stunning old Indian and Tibetan
brass and bronze statuary to add to
our previous collection, as well as fifteen beautiful silk rugs from the world famous Maqbool weavers of Kashmir. This premier weaving
family specializes in jewel tones and exquisite color combinations in
creating their crisp high-knotted silk rugs.
To be notified of upcoming events via e-mail or postal mail follow this link.