Fall Market Buzz: Anichini's Tribal Tales with Susan Gomersall (Part 2 of 3)

Yesterday, we introduced you to Susan Gomersall, an expert in the field of traditional textiles and the woman behind Anichini's newest collection. Susan will be your guide through Tribal Tales, Anichini's upcoming Fall Market event at the DDB, but first we're going to learn a bit more about Susan's own tribal tales.

GDG: Has the history of these rugs survived to the present day?

SG: These weavings were the entire furniture and often wealth of the family. They have only become available in recent years because, sadly, the nomadic way of life in Central Asia and North Africa is coming to an end. Regional wars and forced settlements of tribes by centralized governments, coupled with arbitrary borders have slowly but surely eradicated tribal migratory routes and nomadic life.

It was virtually impossible 40 years ago to buy a rug that had been in the family for generations. New rugs were made for local sale and bartered for grain and animals but if you tried to buy an old rug from a family they would laugh in decline and, instead, try to sell you a new one. It was inconceivable to them that anyone would prefer an old rug to a new one. Only when the elder family members were gone and the present generation who live in towns and villages, with a house and furniture negating the use of utilitarian weavings, did these amazing pieces come onto the market place.

GDG:  What was it like traveling with the nomads for nearly ten years?

SG: In those years the nomads whom I spent time with were so isolated from the rest of the world that they were afraid to have their photograph taken—they thought it would steal their soul. They found us very amusing, but once they invited you into their world, they were the most hospitable people on earth!

GDG: Are you still able to travel as extensively when buying and selling tribal rugs?

SG: Unfortunately, due to political upheavals, it has been many decades since I've been able to travel in Iran and Afghanistan and it has been ten years since I've been able to go to Northwest Pakistan. I still travel, but now to Turkey and North Africa.

Be sure to check back with GoDesignGo for more about Susan Gomersall when she tells us more about her collection with Anichini. In the meantime, save the date for her Tribal Tales at Anichini (Suite 923) on Thursday, October 13 from noon to 12:45 p.m. at the DDB.