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Rug Insider Magazine
News for the Rug and Carpet Professional 
Brian Robins and Rebecca Lurie are the dynamic business partners who own and operate Kush Rugs in Portland, Oregon. Self-described as a “labor of love,” Kush is the manifestation of the founders’ pursuit of that basic, yet elusive goal: Do what you love! The gallery offers a fresh perspective on a centuries-old art, representing modern, traditional, tribal and custom work from all over the world. This is Robins’ own account of part of that perspective.
A new collaborative project between the World Bank, LabelSTEP, and Turquoise Mountain seeks to empower women while simultaneously moving the Afghan carpet industry into the twenty-first century.
Turquoise Mountain is a non-profit organization founded in 2006, at the behest of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Now working in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the Middle East, Turquoise Mountain’s objective is to preserve and regenerate historic areas and communities with a rich cultural heritage and to revive traditional crafts in order to create employment, improve trade skills, and foster a renewed sense of regional and cultural pride. Its work is broad, encompassing myriad crafts and trades, from woodworking to ceramics to of course handmade carpet weaving.
A new endeavor spearheaded by Steve Cibor of Tamarian and already much discussed within the industry is set to go live this winter. With it comes the possibility of revolutionary change to the way retailers source and sell rugs from inventory. It is The Rug Club, and RUG INSIDER has the details.
What is it about a carpet that inspires an exuberant ‘Wow!’? Is it the color? The design? The material? The construction? Maybe it is as former rug and carpet dealer Nedret Gürler once stated: ‘Color is like the appearance of an attractive person; it draws you in. Design is like their personality; it keeps your attention.’
According to company lore it all began in 1920 with eight rugs and a wheeled cart. That’s when Oscar Isberian, a young man from Wilmette, Illinois, co-founded Oscar Isberian Rugs with his brother Megerditch. Today the firm has grown from those humble beginnings into Chicagoland’s premier rug and carpet retailer, Oscar Isberian Rugs. As the firm nears its centenary, RUG INSIDER talks with the current principals of the firm, brothers Oscar Tatosian and Sarkis Tatosian (and others) about the secrets to their company’s enduring success.
As textural and familiar as a coarse and nubby couture tweed, as richly hued as a radiant sunset reflecting sea and shore, the perpendicular striae of this rug hint at the woven nature of textile. The placement of color conveys the appearance of age, patina, and wear as well as a hint of the unknown, hidden by static.
In May of 2018 Rug Star and Christiane Millinger Oriental Rugs and Textiles collaborated on the inaugural North American version of Rug Star’s noted ‘Intimacy’ photography series which began in Berlin, Germany. This is a behind the scenes look at the making of “Intimacy Portland”—set in Portland, Oregon—with commentary regarding the effectiveness of such campaigns on the perception of handmade rugs and carpets.
The oriental rug trade has changed tremendously over the past two decades, to the point where the description is no longer even politically correct. It has been replaced by the more generic ‘area rug’ or ‘decorative rug trade.’ The way we do business here at Persian Gallery New York has also evolved enormously over the two past decades. We went from being a traditional wholesale trade business that was very insular and protected, in which a client had to go through a retailer or interior designer to gain access, to a modern, high tech, global operation, where the emphasis is on being digital. In addition to a highly functional website, including high resolution digital images, there is email, social media, live chat and being accessible and available on all of them 24-7. All those platforms require having your product available wherever the user's smart-phone is likely to take them, and with the minimal number of taps and swipes.
