A vivid account of the most recent international meeting for scholars and enthusiasts of texile art in the beautiful city of Ashkhabad.

This journey was undertaken with a bit if apprehension. There was so much uncertainty and lack of information concerning the "First International Symposium of Turkmen Carpets" that I wasn't sure it would materialise at all. But as with all travel and other arrangements in Central Asia, just when one sees them collapse, the pieces fall into place to form the puzzle it was originally meant to be. I found myself deprived of sleep, once again, heading for my twelve midnight flight from Istanbul to Ashkhabad. I opted for the considerably ...

Parviz Tanavoli presents Ghereh with his most recent study of a little-known aspect of carpet tradition in Persia: that of the ceremonial carpet.

One of the important varieties of floor covering that has gone unmentioned in rug literature is the masnad. The small spread which until fairly recently was considered the most valuable of Iran's rugs and examples of which adorned the homes of virtually all wealthy people, now languishes in a state of oblivion.

A recent exhibition of masterpieces from the Tibetan Renaissance, including many fabrics and embroideries, ceremonial dress, saddles and other textiles of particular importance.

This year, 115 masterworks belonging to the National Museums and State Library of Mongolia appear in the United States for the first time in the 1995-96 exhibition, "Mongolia: The Legacy of Chinggis Khan". Organised by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the show opened July 19 in San Francisco, and now travels to Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C.