HALI NEWSLETTER No. 444

[View this email in your browser]( The 8th edition of Morocco's National Handicrafts Week will take place in Casablanca from 28 February–2 March 2024. As part of this, a special rug section will be included, following the success of its inaugural appearance last year. For 2024, it will appear as a larger and more inclusive show, Morocco Carpet & Flooring Trade Show, and will include over thirty Moroccan rug companies producing genuine, handwoven Moroccan carpets as well as tiles and wooden flooring. The organisers, Maison de L’Artisan, are warmly inviting international buyers to attend the fair and stay at a 5-star Casablanca hotel. The fair will be followed by a sourcing tour to Marrakesh and Fez: an opportunity to discover the beauty of the Moroccan landscape and hospitality and to visit some of the best known bazaars and rug weaving centres. Register to visit and apply for complimentary accommodation and the sourcing tour by completing the [booking form]( If you have questions regarding the Morocco Carpet & Flooring Trade Show, please email events@hali.com. *A limited number of complimentary hotel rooms are available for qualified international buyers. Eligibility is subject to assessment by Maison de L'Artisan. This exhibition is showing at the Museum of Oriental Art, Venice until 28 April 2024, and showcases the artisanal skills that have been passed down through generations of the Miao population in China, which are most obvious in a series of fabrics and embroideries, loaned by the Italian Geographical Society and collector Franco Passarello. Image: Ceremonial coat for guzangjie (buffalo festival), Miao culture, Rongjiang county, Guizhou province. Currently running at the Baltimore Museum of Art until 7 January 2024, this exhibition looks at the contributions of women to the visual arts of Europe. It features more than 200 pieces from the 15th–18th centuries, including embroidered objects, tapestries and costumes. Image: Abraham Banishing Hagar and Ishmael, c. 1650 England. Baltimore Museum of Art. Continuing our exploration of suzanis, the focus of this week's segment of [#RugFactFriday]( is on arguably the most striking and singular 'Lakai' suzanis. Jeff Spurr crystalised his thoughts and research on the topic in HALI 215, in which he sets out to demonstrate an integral link between a brilliant but eccentric and ill-understood subset of antique urban suzanis from the Emirate of Bukhara, and the small-scale embroideries created by the Lakai. He begins by explaining '‘Lakai’ suzanis have been associated with Shahr-i Sabz, a city in Kashkadarya Province in southern Uzbekistan.' These suzanis, which Spurr defines as 'Lakai in style', according to him 'reflect, in an urban environment, the visual style of the small embroidered trappings of the rural Lakai Uzbeks, who occupied villages principally in Surkhandarya Province southeast of Shahr-i Sabz, and in the Hisar region of adjacent Tajikistan, some having taken refuge in the Kunduz area of northern Afghanistan in the 1920s after the failed ‘Basmachi’ revolt against Soviet rule.' Throughout his article, Spurr seeks to make the point is that both classes of embroideries were 'informed by the same stylistic propensities, and were produced in the same period by the same ethnic group.' He continues: 'a style is likely to be time bound. Here we are talking about two groups of embroidered textiles, rural and urban, produced from about 1875 to 1925. After this, Sovietisation and modernisation dictated the essential disappearance of Lakai urban suzanis. However, the rural environment, especially in Afghanistan, permitted the tradition to continue, albeit with a decline in quality.' Spurr develops his point, stating that 'there is no evidence for Lakai visual culture before the early 1870s, although the character of what followed suggests that it was well developed. In this brief period, we witness the high velocity of change in artistic expression, a quality characteristic of both Lakai textile traditions—in contrast to the conservatism of traditional, cotton-ground urban suzanis, including those attributed to Shahr-i Sabz.' Buy [HALI 215]( to read an extensive exploration on the topic, in which Spurr draws from numerous examples of 'Lakai' suzanis to illustrate his argument. It should be stated that there have been a number responses to Spurr's article contesting and disagreeing with his conclusions, some of which will be feature in two upcoming books on the subject. [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Website]( Copyright © 2023 Hali Publications, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: HALI Publications 6 Sylvester Path London, Hackney E8 1EN United Kingdom Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.