Istanbul Carpet Week

History

At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Istanbul is one of the world’s oldest centres for weaving and rug trading.^[1] The first edition of Istanbul Carpet Week ran from October 2016 in the Istanbul. The next edition event held in 2017 and 2018 in Istanbul.^[2]
Istanbul Carpet Week is organized by the İstanbul Halı İhracatçıları Birliği (IHIB), that’s the ‘Istanbul Carpet Exporter’s Association’ in english, with Hali og Cover magazines as media partners.^[3] This event is designed to showcase the products, skills and knowledge of one of the world’s oldest traditional centres of weaving.^[4]
The week also includes the awards ceremony for IHIB’s National Carpet Design Contest, which promotes the work of young Turkish designers, showcases the talent of a new generation and provides an inspiring indicator of the future of carpet design.
The event includes Istanbul Rug Show, Istanbul International Carpet Conference, The National Carpet Design Contest and also a reception.^[5]

Istanbul Carpet Week 6-9 October 2016

The programme kicks off with the Istanbul International Carpet Conference, which will feature local and international speakers on a wide variety of topics. The week also includes the awards ceremony for IHIB’s 10th annual National Carpet Design Contest.^[6] Ten antique rugs from different regions of Anatolia from private collections of merchants were on display for all in the lobby of ITKIB’s (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters' Association) building where some of the activities were held.^[7]

Istanbul Carpet Conference Speakers 2016^[8]

Picture	Name	The Subject of Lectures
Carol Sebert	Carol Sebert	Contemporary Design in Rugs
100px	Eerbil Tezcan	Designing Rugs
100px	Hadi Maktabi	Azerbaijan Rugs
100px	Rob Leahy	Conventional US rug dealers’ difficulties and new developments of the market: its effect in the world production
100px	Stefano Ionescu	Double-niche ‘Transylvanian’ rugs, an Anatolian product meant for export; The relation with 18th and 19th century Turkish rugs.
100px	UDO HIRSCH	Anatolian Kilims
100px	Hamidi Ünal	Hereke Carpets

the 10th National Carpet Design Contest

Winners^[9]:

Muhammed Türk: The Carpet ‘Destruction’ by designer Muhammad Türk took first place in the competition. He describes his design as a protest against the destruction of historical monuments by badly done restorations. He juxtaposed a central series of traditional Islamic geometrics done in a blood-hued red on a black background against a wash of blues and earth colors to represent the sweeping away of tangible evidences of the past.^[10]

Muhammed Türk, Designer Carpet in Istanbul Carpet Week 2016

Senem Kula: The second-place winner, Senem Kula, interwove strips of selvedges made of jute to make a lacy piece with irregular edges. It was her bid, she said, to "bring a modern alternative and different material to traditional methods.^[11]
Faruk Açıkgöz