CARPET WEAVERS AND WEAVING IN THE ... - Cornell University

competitive in both the tourist and export markets, and some tourists prefer the
simpler designs in and of themselves (Jirousek 1994, 232).
While Western conceptions of the “authentic” Turkish carpet may or may not
have been influenced by the “aging” techniques practiced by dealers, Western
aesthetics most definitely influenced the types of carpets being woven. When
asymmetry came into vogue in Europe and the U.S. in the late 19 th century more
prayer rugs, which have a pointed design at one end only, were woven; when
Westerners wanted symmetrical furnishings prayer rug weaving became much less
common (Jirousek 1994). According to Landreau, “the romantic notions about rugs
disseminated by a Western elite created a mystique that greatly enhances, and
continues to support, marketability.” Thus, through dealers and weavers catering to
this Western notion, foreign aesthetics are important to design (1996, 301).
It remains to be seen how contemporary carpets compare to those written about
in the existing literature. Have carpets finally reached the white-on-white stage that
would culminate the trend observed by Jirousek in 1994? There is also need for an
evaluation of the changes in carpets in relation to recent changes in the global
economy, as well as an exploration of whether or not weaving for sale affects the
design and structure of carpets woven for home use.
2.4.4 Government involvement in the weaving industry
Berik notes that weaving, being part of an agricultural lifestyle and requiring no
materials unavailable in rural Turkey, was encouraged under the Turkish
government’s import-substitution industrialization strategy initiated during the First
Five Year Development Plan in 1963. Policy up to the point of Berik’s research
focused mainly on export promotion, and not on the weavers themselves. The
government recommended that workshops and cooperatives be formed in order to
34