Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability

Return to Tradition: The Revitalization of Turkish Village Carpets.
Anderson, June. 1998.

Return to Tradition describes the rebirth of an almost-extinct cultural tradition, the hand-knotted Turkish carpets made in remote villages on the Aegean Peninsula, and the lives of the women who make them. It is the story of a unique project called DOBAG, that reintroduced natural dyes, restored the integrity of this ancient folk art, and formed village cooperatives to organize the production and marketing of the carpets. The book also includes information about the designs, colors, motifs, and symbolism of the carpets which continue to evolve aesthetically in response to the weavers' needs and the consumer market. The DOBAG project, administered by Marmara University in Istanbul, has produced 1500 carpets annually since 1981. Published by the University of Washington Press.

80 pages, 106 color photographs. Soft cover $10.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Revitalization

The Cooperative Takes Shape

Making a Village Carpet

Aesthetics

Catalog of Village Carpet Designs

Village Life

Ordering information: CAS Department of Anthropology