More adventures in the suzani room

1979 Uzbek cotton/silk suzani, $200

  The suzani room of People's Imports: a place of bliss, history, and a little bit of mystery...where the trans-Saharan caravan and the Silk Road meet on a tapestry.  As we have rearranged the space by region and decorated the walls, old and new items keep telling us their stories.

Uzbek (Bukhara?) all-silk prayer suzani, $249

 First there was the classic Uzbek suzani signed and dated 1979, same year as the Iranian revolution and during the later period of Soviet rule. The artist still filled her canvas with nature's beauty and the gifts of the region's earth goddess, whom we found to have been Anahita. Then, the all-silk pink prayer suzani, unique in color and material, with palm trees and more Islamic iconography. A few moments with this one and we are watching an epic sunset at a bazaar in Bukhara. 

Uzbek prayer suzani, cotton/silk, $125

Then, as the Yoruba and Benin sculptures (both of Nigeria, more on that later) were organized by tribe, we filled the space beween them at the room's east end with our other prayer suzani. More classic in color and design, it also balances the Islamic with the nature-worship before it.

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Thioup from Senegal, 100% cotton, $150

Lying on a wooden stool in the room is this yellow Thioup (cotton tapestry), newly arrived from Senegal. The printed floral pattern is much simpler then the suzani and is unlike anything else from Africa in the shop. The Thies region of Senegal (West Africa on the Atlantic) is known for its tapestries, and you can read more about them here.

Just another day in the temple we call the suzani room. Next time, Yoruba beadwork and Benin bronze go "head to head" on a Turkish wedding blanket.