Skip to main content

I S SUE 97 04 03 03 03 Turquoise Mountain rug designed by Maryam Omar, for the ‘Weaving Poems’ exhibition at Design Doha 04 Manzil, Herati collection—rug from the first collection Maryam Omar designed for Turquoise Mountain 05 Rug washing by a Turquoise Mountain workshop 05 creatives and artisans but also between two very di erent worlds, both of which she has a heart in. I am convinced she is Turquoise Mountain’s superpower—though it is clear that they have more than one. She was born in Afghanistan. During the civil war, Maryam’s family moved to Pakistan, where she completed her schooling. The family then moved to London, where she earned a degree in fashion design from University of the Arts London. In 2015 came a meeting that changed her course: Maryam visited an exhibition of contemporary jewellery and gemstones from Afghanistan held by the British Council and Turquoise Mountain. It was there she met the then managing director of Turquoise Mountain, Thomas Wide. ‘He said, if you come to Kabul, come and see us,’ she says. Maryam returned to her homeland—and her family who had also gone back—that same year. Maryam joined the small TM o ce in various roles, but as the organisation grew she moved solely into design and soon headed product development. When TM began producing rugs around 2017, she visited Mazar-i-Sharif to learn more about production, and downloaded the Galaincha software to start designing. While her training was in fashion and pattern, Maryam’s childhood was spent in a house full of rugs; she learnt to embroider from her mother. Rug design was a new area, but her first hand-knotted rug collection, Herati, was a great success. I ask her how she felt about her Afghan heritage when she was a designer in London. Maryam admits she wanted to ‘do something different’, and her work first had a very minimalist, European aesthetic. But over time her appreciation of, and relationship with, her past began to have an increasing influence on her design. Connecting with her heritage has grown in importance for Maryam—speaking in her mother tongue with the artisans and sharing stories. ‘When we talk together we laugh, we discuss families, traditions,’ she says. ‘For “Weaving Poems”, I collected their stories and poems. Persian poetry is so very rich, there is a proverb for every possible situation. I love the language and the literature. We also came up with the songs for the sound of the exhibition.’ So we return to the Doha exhibition, which ties up this story perfectly. Maryam’s pride in and relationship with her country, its language and poetry, and with the weavers, shone through in the rug designs and in the display that evoked Afghanistan in its sounds,colours and textures. ‘I am very proud of the work we do,’ she says, ‘Turqouise Mountain is an amazing organisation.’ www.turquoisemountain.org

My Bookmarks

Skip to main content