War Rugs

February 10, 2004 9:02 AM

War Rugs woven by Afghanis often depict tanks, planes and guns, but a new set of imagery has appeared recently: the WTC in flames. More in this Forbes article.
posted by me3dia (11 comments total)

More here and here.
posted by me3dia at 9:04 AM on February 10, 2004

As heard on NPR this morning...
posted by goethean at 9:05 AM on February 10, 2004

I wonder if the Afghani women do this as art or just because they think it will appeal to American buyers.
posted by orange swan at 9:13 AM on February 10, 2004

Actually, the NPR piece addressed this as well -- the war rug designs are good sellers. Most of the rug creators are interested in making a buck rather than a statement.

The NPR piece is available here.
posted by monkey.pie.baker at 9:21 AM on February 10, 2004

I ran into a rug dealer a couple of years ago who sold only these. I thought it was a bit odd at first - but not really too surprising if you think about it, given Afghanistan's recent history.
posted by troutfishing at 9:28 AM on February 10, 2004

That rug really tied the room together, Dude.
posted by xmutex at 9:50 AM on February 10, 2004

Seems to be an Afghani tradition. They have been depicting war for the past *mumble* years, with variations in the equipment pictured due to the various forces involved.
Dan Cruickshank bought one whilst he was there.
posted by asok at 10:06 AM on February 10, 2004

I like the original.
posted by goethean at 11:10 AM on February 10, 2004

I wonder about the future value. They seem pretty cheap on Ebay.
posted by stbalbach at 11:25 AM on February 10, 2004

I once bid on an older afghan war rug depicting Kalashnikovs with the text 'make peace not war' and lost it at around 300 dollars. Shame. :/
posted by dabitch at 12:07 PM on February 10, 2004

I have several Afghan rugs - although none of them appear to have any guns, tanks, grenades, rockets, etc. Although I'll be going home and inspecting more closely tonight. I've seen Afghan rugs with the Russian tanks and grenades before, but the WTC ones are very spooky. I think I want to know if the weaver thinks the WTC thing was bad or good.
posted by Red58 at 1:00 PM on February 10, 2004