Rugs From Nomadic Persia Ride On Magical Colours
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday November 16, 1993
STRETCHING across several walls in the Ray Hughes Gallery in Paddington, the earthy hues and abstract geometrics of the Gabbeh rugs present a startling form of tactile art.
It is only when you pull them down and toss them on the wooden floor that you really appreciate their peasant warmth, the deep gradations in colour and the intensity of the patterns.
Designed and hand-knotted by the women of the Lori, Qashqa'i and Khamseh nomadic tribes of south-west Iran, these exotic rugs reflect aspects of their lives, physical surroundings and traditions.
Stick figures of Western women with triangular skirts share panels with crude, hieroglyphic-like animations of cattle, goats, birds and flowers.
The designs, mostly geometric and in powerful colours, are unevenly spaced squares, triangles and zigzags which juggle with stripes, rhomboids and a chessboard of cubes. The colours - all deep primary colours plus tones of terracottas and mustard - are drawn from nature.
The almost plain abstract fields are sometimes reminiscent of 20th century paintings: knotted Mondrians, Rothkos and Klees.
Although usually fashioned with wool from the nomads' sheep, the rugs often include goat and camel hair - basically whatever is at hand.
"It's all about improvisation, human beings' ability to invent things,"says the gallery's owner, Ray Hughes.
Hughes saw the rugs on a recent trip to London and imported 25 of them. The rugs, measuring up to six square metres, have been on display for just two weeks, with price tags between $1,500 and $3,000, and already 15 have been sold.
The two main characteristics of the Gabbeh are the use of intense colour and the abstract design - markedly different from the conventional harmonising of an oriental rug.
These features, Hughes says, combined with an irregular texture, have meant that until now the rugs have been scorned commercially.
The Gabbeh rugs are woven on crude horizontal frames, with the warps stretched over bars that are invariably uneven, so they are created uniquely imperfect.
The thickness of the warps is an indication of a rug's tribal origins, as are the types of borders used. These can range from thick strips of colour to narrow, multicoloured stripes often combined to form a single wider band.
The origin of the word Gabbeh is not clear although one theory is that it is derived from kaba, which is Turkish for "rough, coarse, big or raw".
Ray Hughes Gallery, 270 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, 698 3200. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am-6 pm.
© 1993 Sydney Morning Herald
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