Meeting Announcement:

Expecting the Unexpected in Carpet Studies

with

Dr. Walter Denny

at

Museum of History and Industry

McEachern Auditorium

Montlake Neighborhood

Wednesday, January 26^th, 2005, 7:00 PM

In the past sixty years, no area of research in the history of art, or, it might be argued, in the Humanities as a whole, has experienced the emergence of newly-discovered material that has profoundly altered the entire view of the field to the extent experienced by carpet studies. From Rudenko’s discovery of the Pazyryk carpet in the mid-20th century onward, it has been a rough but exhilarating ride. In this lecture we will examine the vast hoard of Divrigi carpets in Turkey, the Padova synagogue rug and the Medici carpets in Italy, the emergence from Tibet of early animal carpets and the controversial silk Timurid carpet with a chessboard, the discoveries of Middle Eastern carpets in Japanese Buddhist shrines and Swiss churches, to mention but a few instances. All are unexpected discoveries that inevitably have forced major realignments in thinking about carpet history.

Walter Denny is an internationally renowned scholar specializing in Islamic art, in particular the artistic traditions of the Ottoman Turks, Islamic carpets and textiles. His recent publications include The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets (Washington and London, 2002) and Iznik: Turkish Ceramics and Ottoman Art (London and Paris, 2004). His current projects include contributions to two major catalogues of private collections of Islamic art, a chapter on Islamic art for a major American textbook, a monograph on the history of carpets, and several articles on 15th-century carpets in the Middle East. Professor Denny is a former trustee of The Textile Museum, chair of the International Committee of the International Conference on Oriental Carpets, and serves on a number of governing, advisory, and editorial boards of organizations, publications and museums with interests in Turkey and the Islamic world.

Meeting Schedule:

7:00 Mix and mingle. Announcements.

7:15 Walter Denny – “Expecting the Unexpected in Carpet Studies”

8:15 Show and tell – Walter is an expert on all kinds of rugs and textiles from Anatolia and Central Asia – bring a piece you’d like to know more about, and Walter might have some ideas for you!

Please note: This meeting is free to all members, $5.00 at the door for guests. As always, all are welcome.

Meeting Location:

The Museum of History & Industry is located south of Husky Stadium, just off State Route 520 south of the Montlake Bridge.

From Interstate 5 take State Route 520 (exit 168B); Exit at Montlake Boulevard; Go straight at stoplight, and continue one block to 24th Avenue East. Turn left into the museum's driveway. Follow road to parking lot.

From westbound State Route 520, take the Lake Washington Boulevard exit; take a right on Lake Washington Boulevard; and turn right on 24th Avenue East into museum parking lot.

Parking is free.

To arrive by bus, take bus 25, 43, 48 or any one of the other 26 METRO buses that stop near the museum at Montlake Station.