Arts Commentary & Writing, No. ❽
April 13, 2023
Combat on the Carpet
Edited by Malini Narayan and Pradyumna Sapre
The tradition of weaving and hand-knotting rugs has been at the cultural and artistic heart of Afghanistan for many centuries. Afghan carpets would usually be “categorized as Khal Moammadi (the carpets which were knotted by Afghans) or Afghan Aqche (the carpets which were knotted by Turkmen in Afghanistan). Despite coming from different communities, the general features of both carpets remained similar. The predominant colors would be in the red spectrum, with smatterings of earth-toned beiges and indigo-toned geometric floral designs. The most striking pattern would be guided by the göl, an octagonal row pattern, and the star. Some of the rug designs are based on the charbagh, a quadrilateral layout inspired by the four gardens of Paradise described in the Qur’an. However, depending on the community where the carpets were being woven and knotted, the use of symbology, imagery, placement and scale would vary.
These carpets were well-acclaimed in the international market and proved to be a valuable export for Afghanistan. However, the 1979 Soviet Invasion marked the dawn of a dark era in the country. Afghanistan experienced extreme political upheaval and economic downfall and a large amount of socio-cultural distress. The tumultuous environment in which the people of Afghanistan lived tellingly found its way into the art and craft of the time.
Afghan War Rug designed in the form of a prayer-mat with a mihrab, depicting helicopters, fighter jets, tanks and fragmentation grenades, possibly made by Taimani women, completed in the early 1980s. Image Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum
Rug producers, provoked by decades of traders and invaders in the country, adapted traditional motifs and compositions to create a new subsect within the realm of Afghani handwoven rugs. The basic geometric patterns and floral motifs transformed into highly stylized visuals of arms, helicopters, grenades, tanks, and even life-size army generals standing sternly in ruined landscapes. These symbols were, at first, subtle additions, and were later emphasized for a niche market of Western collectors. This movement of contemporizing a traditional craft resulted in the creation of the highly-coveted ‘Afghan War Rugs’.
One of the first avid collectors of Afghan war rugs, Kevin Sudeith, explains why he was so impressed with the craftsmanship of the Afghani rugs. As noted by Sudeith, there are inherent similarities between traditional rugs and avant-garde war rugs. Certain war rugs seem to emulate the symmetric sensibilities of the Afghani weavers. Even with imagery that reflected the turbulence of the Afghani landscape, the overall composition of the carpet seems to be geometric and oriented entirely around the center göl. The general motifs of florals and botanicals as well as the geometric borders persist in modern adaptations as well.
“The thing that awed me about the war rugs ... is the combination of a very ancient tradition and ancient designs and patterns that are tied to specific towns and regions of Afghanistan ... coupled with the most contemporary subject matter. And the war rugs document that unselfconsciously, succinctly and beautifully.”
These eclectic rugs can be enjoyed as avant-garde textiles and as participants in the modernization of a thousand-year old tradition. The myriad of associations one can make between these rugs and the history, politics, culture, and religion of Afghanistan offer a multitude of possibilities for interpretation. They represent an encounter of a timeless aesthetic tradition with the violent reality of contemporary South Asia. The canvas of the carpet serves as a storytelling topography. Certain carpets depict specific events in an extremely graphic manner and revolutionize the art of storytelling. One of the most well-known of these depictions are the carpets which narrate the story of the 9/11 attacks.
Afghan War Rug depicting US Predetor Drones with a Turkmen Border, completed in 2016. Image Credit: Kevin Sudeith, War RugAfghan War Rug depicting the events at World Trade Center, completed in 2004. Images Credit: The Trustees of the British MuseumThe 9/11 carpets are almost diagrammatic: the visual of the World Trade Center dominates the canvas of the carpet, and all the surrounding images are labeled concisely to narrate the story of the 2001 attacks. From the date ‘11 september 2001,’ to the flight numbers of the commercial American and United Aircrafts which flew into the towers, the entire scene is depicted on the carpet. The detail of the visuals is stunning: one can clearly differentiate the commercial aircrafts from the military aircrafts and the missiles. The gadh (base) of the carpet presents the map of Afghanistan, and in perspective, the map of the United States, from which arise the Twin Towers. The map of Afghanistan in the background can also be symbolic of the yearning of the refugee weavers (who relocated to Pakistan during the 2001 attacks) to return to their homes in Sheberghan and Mazar-e Sharif.
One of the most important images in the carpet is that of the dove which flies across the breadth of the rug with an olive branch in its beak. It is shadowed with a backdrop of the American and Afghani flags. As a universal symbol of peace and harmony, not only does it signify the quest for peace in Afghanistan but also the general sentiment of the Afghani public. The use of floral designs surrounding the quotidian images of the Afghani landscape similarly reflects the longing for more peaceful times.
After the attacks, Afghanistan became synonymous with the American war on terrorism. Their regional craftsmanship became a way to separate themselves from the inescapable, pernicious stereotypes of the ‘Afghan’ during the Bush Era. Carrie Hertz, the curator of textiles and dress at the Museum of International Folk Art, puts it beautifully: “To me, this signals not a glorification of what’s happening but a hope for reconciliation.” The decorative border, then, represents hope for a better future.
Afghan War Rug of an Army General’s Portrait, acquired in Peshawar in 1985. Image Credit: Annemaria Sawkins and Enrico Mascellino
The design of war rugs, though, serves a more complex function than signifying a desire for peace. It remains unclear whether they are a celebration of modernity or a reflection of its destructive impulses? Are they a witness to shared trauma or a criticism of the commercialization of violence? Are they testaments to ingenuity and a spirit of survival? Regardless of their intended political content, the emergence of war-related imagery aided the economic survival of area weavers and displaced craftspeople through years of armed conflict and cultural disruption.
To date, most of the weavers of these rugs in Afghanistan and Pakistan are women, and it is these women who are at the forefront of the war rug movement. They managed to create economic independence through the sustenance of this craft. After decades of guerrilla warfare, including the American and Soviet Invasions and a brutal civil war, Afghanistan was conquered by the Taliban in the 1990s and was governed with unyielding Sharia Law. Purdah or female seclusion had become a compulsory practice, but women weavers found ways to exercise their economic and social independence. Craft served as a platform for emancipation and empowerment. The women of Afghanistan, who have for decades now been hidden behind the veil, have shown an abundance of courage in their effort to preserve craft, obtain social and financial independence, and fearlessly narrate the stories of the lives they live as refugees of war.
The representation of their surroundings display their perspectives of the war and smaller details about their individual lives. Hertz says: “They have secrets in the rug, like the initials of the boy they like, or colors, or something that reflects from her soul to the carpet. Anything she cannot express, she can put on the carpet. Most of the girls have lost some relatives to war. War was the main topic of conversation in their lives. My perspective? I think it’s kind of sad to have something of this emotional impact from teenagers.” In more than one way, these carpets serve as spaces for narrative discourse that explore personal, political, and social paradigms of the peoples and place of Afghanistan.