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12 Established 1961 Lifestyle Features Thursday, March 4, 2021 A vendor displays a rug at his shop in Bamiyan. A vendor carries a rug for sale as he walks along the Abdul Wahab, a tribal carpet collector holds rug wraps A worker holds a rug for drying on the rooftop of a wash- roadside at Chicken Street in Kabul. during an interview with AFP inside his shop at Chicken ing factory in Herat. Street in Kabul. n his quest to track down the last of were his shoes and the rugs,” he piece from a network of rug hunters like a very sad thing,” sighed Wahab. “Wool the age, the shape-everything together Afghanistan’s antique rugs, Chari shrugged. Allahqul. “We rely 99.9 percent on those from Belgium, dyes from another coun- gives value to the piece,” said Wahid IAllahqul has weathered high-country bliz- people,” he explained. “I love my carpets. I try... Nothing is Afghan at all.” Fakes and Abdullah, owner of Herat Carpets in Kabul. zards, suffered beatings from armed rob- Hand crafted antiques buy them one by one, not just for the sake cheap imitations are rife, he complained, bers, and skirted fighting with insurgents. Afghanistan’s carpet belt stretches west of selling them.” making the selling of a more expensive ‘It’s all art’ Often on horseback with donkeys in tow, like a boomerang from northern Kunduz antique to a less discerning customer all Some rugs may not even be top quali- he travels deep into the jagged badlands province along the Uzbek and Fakes and imitations the more difficult. ty, Abdullah said, but the uniqueness of of northern Afghanistan searching for Turkmenistani borders and down across But decades of conflict, displacement Unscrupulous carpet dealers have also the design or some other striking charac- hand-woven carpets made by the coun- the frontier with Iran. It is home to a smat- and urbanization has forever changed the been known to fabricate the faded patina teristic-even a flaw intentionally woven try’s nomadic tribes. “The roads are dan- tering of nomadic groups who have spe- trade. Nomadic tribes have largely settled seen on antiques, relying on chemical into a pattern-can distinguish them from gerous, full of wolves and full of enemies. cialized in making rugs for centuries. and abandoned their family-run looms, treatments, tea washing, and occasionally modern, mass produced carpets. “It’s all We have to spend nights in the forests or in Going door-to-door in rural villages work- according to the rug sellers in Kabul’s driving over new rugs with cars to give art. It’s difficult to explain,” he added. But the desert,” explained Allahqul, who travels ing off tips from local contacts, Allahqul carpet bazaars. Imported wool and syn- them a worn veneer-and a higher price. the rug hunters combing Afghanistan’s with a hardy Afghan sheepdog to keep bargains over what were once dowry gifts- thetic dyes, along with the proliferation of Experienced rug sellers say only careful carpet heartlands complain that antique him safe while he sleeps. handcrafted rugs made by a young bride’s commercial workshops across the region, inspection with a seasoned eye and deli- pieces are now increasingly difficult to Rug hunters can spend weeks-if not family to adorn her new home. The most have flooded the market with cheaper cate touch can reveal the true value of a find. The roads have also become more months-passing through villages like sought after carpets are often decades rugs that can be produced en masse. “It’s rug. “The dyes, the design, the condition, dangerous with international troops with- sleuths along old caravan trails, offering old, embellished with tribal patterns, woven drawing from Afghanistan while lawless- cash or bartering with modern goods to from handspun wool and made with dyes ness and the Taliban’s influence grows. amass a diverse selection of pieces they concocted from local ingredients such as “The factory made rugs have hurt the can later peddle in rug bazaars or to col- roots, herbs and flower petals. hand-woven rug industry,” Zalmai lectors. But the journeys are often full of Once happy with their bounty, rug Ahmadi, a carpet hunter from western peril. Allahqul, who began carpet hunting hunters head back to their homes where Afghanistan’s Herat, told AFP. as a child, said he was once clubbed with the carpets are washed and then dried on “The journeys are very, very difficult and a Kalashnikov by bandits who passed over roofs for months, allowing the sun to bring we come across the Taliban, government his carefully collected rugs while looking out the colors. The rugs are then taken to forces, and thieves-either they ask for mon- for cash, dismissing his wares as aging cities like Kabul, where delicate repairs are ey or you get killed.” During two recent junk. “They said, ‘these rugs are old rugs made before they are sold. “Fixing or sell- outings Ahmadi was only able to snag a and throw them away’,” he recalled with a ing a carpet is like bringing up a child. It couple rugs, compared to the dozens of grin, while admitting it took over two weeks takes a lot of hard work,” said Allahqul. A pieces he could have easily collected a to recover from the thrashing. single carpet can take anywhere from six few years ago. “Whatever we wanted, we Dangers are nothing new to the job, months to two years to make and can fetch could get,” he said. “But now we can’t find according to Allahqul, who remembers his thousands of dollars on the international them.”— AFP father telling the story of a friend who was market if it earns a place in the showrooms eaten alive by wolves after being stranded of premier rug dealers. Abdul Wahab, one in a snowstorm during a rug expedition of Kabul’s top tribal carpet collectors, said In this picture Chari Allahqul, a rug hunter displays a rug during an interview with AFP inside decades ago. “The only thing they found his inventory has been amassed piece-by- his shop at Chicken Street in Kabul. — AFP photos Taiwan prepares white rhino ‘Emma’ to find mate in Japan mma, five years old, slim build with a gentle demeanor, is looking for Elove overseas. Hobbies include A picture shows a view of Ariston Theater in Sanremo ahead of the 71st Italian song festival. — AFP hanging with friends and studying leather screeching pop melodies, singers Japanese. Seeks fellow rhino for com- unveiling new tattoos and jokes that fall panionship and mating. It’s been a busy Italy’s Sanremo flat. An obligatory step for Italian singers, and exciting time at Taiwan’s Leofoo Sanremo has hosted the Who’s Who of Safari Park where zookeepers have been the country’s popular music over the preparing to send one of their southern A staff member from Taiwan Hsinchu’s Leofoo Village Zoo cleans Emma, with mud before it travels to festival: Singing, decades, from Gino Paoli, Lucio Dalla white rhinos over to Japan. Part of an Japan’s Tobu Zoo for breeding. — AFP photos and Mina to Lucio Battisti, Ornella Vanoni attempt to widen the gene pool of Asia’s and Bobby Solo-even Andrea Bocelli. captive-bred white rhinos, it is the first slowly when she (Emma) arrives in Japan recover thanks to conservation efforts. scandals One of the first to be catapulted to time Taiwan will send a rhino overseas to she can more quickly adjust to the new Their northern cousins were not so fame by the festival was Domenico breed. The safari park scoured their 23 language,” Wu added. lucky. Only two remain, both female, ren- Modugno in 1958, whose refrain “Volare” strong herd to find a suitable candidate The rhino has also been trained to get dering the species functionally extinct. and Zlatan captured the zeitgeist of a jubilant Italy and settled on “Emma” who ticked all the used to “outdoor ambient sounds” such Other rhino species such as the Javan reveling in its post-war economic boom. right boxes. as airplane engines and trucks to pre- rhino and Sumatran rhino have less than Although most of its singers are unknown “Emma was chosen because of her pare her for any noise during the upcom- 100 herds left. Zoo breeding programs t’s been dismissed as immoral, outdat- to international audiences, Sanremo has mild personality... and her smaller size ing journey. Her trip originally set for this played a crucial role in repopulating ed and reality TV kitsch. It’s also hailed welcomed over the years a smattering of also makes it easier to ship overseas,” month has been postponed to late April southern white rhino herds. Leofoo Safari Ias Italy’s national treasure, a song festi- foreign stars, from Shirley Bassey to Sean Wu, the park’s chief veterinarian at the earliest due to Japan’s border Park imported eight rhinos from Africa in val that captures the soul of the country Dusty Springfield and Sonny and Cher. and animal manager, told AFP. “She sel- restrictions imposed over the Covid-19 1979 and now has the most successful each year. Whether for the soaring Even Louis Armstrong was a contestant. dom get into fights with other rhinos or pandemic, the park said. A vet and a breeding programme in Asia with 23 ani- melodies or the feuds, botched ballads Uproar is habitual. Singers have broken snatch other’s food.” Visa and paperwork zookeeper will fly from Taiwan two weeks mals in its herd.

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