This program launches a series of 2025 programs that revisit groundbreaking exhibitions of The Textile Museum’s 100-year history.

The pioneering 1969 exhibition at The Textile Museum and its catalog From the Bosporus to Samarkand: Flat-Woven Rugs introduced the international rug and textile community to flat woven textiles that had been woven solely for domestic use in the Near East and Central Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but were essentially unknown in the West.
 

With its dynamic cover image of a Shahsavan “soumak” bag, the publication set off a frenzy among collectors and dealers to find similar examples. It inspired and influenced numerous publications and, in many instances, established benchmarks for the “best of type” that endure to this day. 
 

While assessing the historical importance of From the Bosporus to Samarkand, trustee Wendel Swan will tell fascinating stories of the many individuals and communities of organizers, collectors, dealers and publishers who made the project such a resounding success. 

This program is part of The Textile Museum’s centennial celebrations in 2025.