Michigan
Oriental Art Society
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Alan Marschke Oriental Rug Gallery, 92 Kercheval,
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
Social Time at 1:30 pm, Meeting at 2:00
pm.
A Visit to the Alan
Marschke Oriental Rug Gallery
The term ‘oriental rug’ usually refers to
traditional hand-knotted carpets originating in the eastern Mediterranean and
Middle East region. Carpets have been primary furnishings for settled and
nomadic peoples in this area since early history, and the traditions of
crafting of carpets for religious, decorative and utilitarian purposes were
passed down through centuries. The Industrial Revolution revolutionized the
ancient craft of carpet weaving. It drove a wedge between the artist and the
material of her art. As recently as twenty years ago, conventional wisdom held
that the great traditions of carpet weaving, bound as they were, for example,
to the art of natural dyeing, were extinct, replaced in the early 20th century
by a rush toward making "hand knotted" carpets in factory-like
conditions, with the highest priority placed on uniformity of color, design,
and dimension in accordance with a program rather than an artistic vision.
Indeed, it is primarily through an understanding of materials, across a broad
spectrum of skills, from handling of raw wool to the dyeing of yarn, to the
active role of the weaver in interpreting design, that we discover this most
cooperative of arts, the weaving of a whole carpet.
Today,
less than a dozen small projects are encouraging villagers in remote
rug-weaving areas to revive the long-forgotten craft. The projects are small,
to be sure, sometimes yielding as few as a thousand one-of-a-kind area rugs.
But the monies help some villagers build medical centers and schools. Reviving
a lost art is not a simple matter, however. Before the art could take form,
villagers had to learn crop production, first determining which crops would
yield the most exquisite dyes. A special breed of sheep had to be raised to
produce the wool for the yarn. Looms had to be fashioned, and all the while,
villagers sought to revive Old World methods for spinning, dyeing and weaving.
Then patterns were born - both ancient and new - to please today's buyers.
Alan Marschke, gallery owner and our
speaker, knows textile history and how important this renaissance is. His
35-year passion for rugs has taken him to Washington, D.C., where he spent 20
years researching, attending classes, conferences and meetings at the
Washington Textile Museum with the Washington Textile Group and the
International Hajji Baba Society. Moreover, he is highly respected in his field
- one of only five people in Michigan nationally certified as an Oriental rug
appraiser by the Oriental Rug Retailers of America.
Driving directions
From northern
suburbs – I-696 East to
I-94 West (toward Detroit). Exit at Moross (next exit after Eastwood-Allard).
Turn left onto Moross and drive approx. 3 miles to Kercheval Avenue. Turn right
on Kercheval and drive 1 mile to the Hill shopping district. The Alan Marschke
Gallery will be on the left side (92
Kercheval). There are parking lots behind the buildings on the right as well as
at the end of the shopping block.
From midtown
Detroit – Take I-94 East
and exit at Moross (next exit after Cadieux). Turn right at Moross and follow
directions as above.
From downtown
Detroit – Take Jefferson
Avenue east to Fisher Road (approx 9 miles from downtown). Turn left on Fisher
Road and proceed to Kercheval Ave (2nd traffic light). Turn right on
Kercheval . The Gallery will be on the right in the second block (92
Kercheval).
