Meeting Announcement:

 

Prayer Carpets, or Curtains for “The Gate of Heaven”? – The use of niche-shaped rugs in Muslim, Jewish and Christian Worship

 

with

 

Alberto Boralevi

 

at

 

Pioneer Hall

1642 43rd Avenue East, Seattle

In the Madison Park neighborhood

 

Thursday, November 17, 2005, 7:00 PM

 

So-called “prayer rugs” have long been of interest to collectors and scholars.  In this presentation, Alberto Boralevi will share his ideas about this particular type of rug. Specifically, he proposes that this rug type should be thought of as multicultural and linked to various religions.  He has come to this conclusion based on his previous studies of Jewish rugs and, more recently, from his research into the many “prayer” rugs seen in evangelical Christian churches in Transylvania.

 

Alberto Boralevi is from a family of art dealers that has been in the antique carpet and textile business in Venice and Florence since the beginning of the twentieth century. Alberto Boralevi has been lecturing on oriental Carpets since 1976, when he started working in his father's gallery.  In 1978, he became the Italian representative of Hali Magazine, editing and publishing an Italian supplement from 1981 to 1986.   From 1986 to 2001, Alberto Boralevi has run his own rug and textile gallery in Florence, where he continues his activities of dealing and lecturing, and curating exhibitions.  Alberto Boralevi, a well-known scholar in the field, has presented papers at most of the carpet conferences around the world during the last 25 years. He is also the author of several books and catalogues. His most recent book is Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania, edited by Stefan Ionescu.  We are quite fortunate to have Alberto Boralevi include Seattle in his American itinerary!

Meeting Schedule:

 

7:00            Mix and mingle.  Announcements.

7:30            Alberto Boralevi: Prayer Carpets

8:30            Show and tell – Prayer-format rugs would be particularly appropriate.

 

Please note:  This meeting is free to members, $5 at the door for guests.

 

Meeting Location and Directions:

 

Pioneer Hall is the home of the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington.  See the map below.  Parking is available on nearby streets.

 

From I-5 or 405, take 520 toward the University of Washington.  From the Eastside, exit at Lake Washington Blvd and turn left off the bridge and right into the Arboretum.  From I-5, take the first exit from 520, Montlake Blvd.. 

Go straight through the light, following the main road until you take a right into the Arboretum. 

 

Go through the Arboretum, turning left at the light, at Madison Street.  Go about a mile, and turn right on E. Blaine Street.  Go two blocks.  Pioneer Hall is straight ahead.

 

Map