Auspicious Carpets: A Tibetan View of Aesthetics
http://www.kunstpedia.com/articles/15/1/Auspicious-Carpets-A-Tibetan-View-of-Aesthetics/Page1.html
Worcester, Ted
Ted Worcester (1943
-2004) first visited Nepal in 1968 and 1971, after which he attended
graduate school in Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He returned to Nepal in 1975 to do a research paper on the adaptation
of the Tibetans as refugees. He became interested in Tibetan carpets
as he learned that the carpet cottage industry was crucial to the refugees'
new life in Nepal. He and wife Cathy were a driving force in reviving
the Tibetan carpet weaving tradition among the Tibetan refugee community
in Kathmandu. They eventually started a small production company which
produced high quality carpets incorporating the motives and designs. By Worcester, Ted
Published on 29 February 2008
11 May 2007, Asianart.com
It's an exciting time for those interested in Tibetan carpets and the wider world of Tibetan design. An incredible wealth of old and antique Tibetan carpets have been uncovered in the past few years. In their stunning numbers, breadth of imagination, and design virtuosity, they may soon well turn conventional carpet wisdom on its head. As with many things Tibetan, no one knows quite what to make of this treasure trove. Previous theories of a "crude imitation" of Chinese carpets simply will not do. The corpus is now too large, representing in endless variety an aesthetic sense or "aesthetic space" all its own. Together the thousands of pieces that have recently appeared form a unique world-view, one that can be felt almost subliminally, but that is very difficult to describe. They are not generally otherworldly or mystical, but rather transcendently playful, a pleasing vision of the propitious. In the Tibetan view they are, along with other decorative goods, more like auspicious companions, helping to light up the day and the night with positive energy. They are auspicious carpets.
It's an exciting time for those interested in Tibetan carpets and the wider world of Tibetan design. An incredible wealth of old and antique Tibetan carpets have been uncovered in the past few years. In their stunning numbers, breadth of imagination, and design virtuosity, they may soon well turn conventional carpet wisdom on its head. As with many things Tibetan, no one knows quite what to make of this treasure trove. Previous theories of a "crude imitation" of Chinese carpets simply will not do. The corpus is now too large, representing in endless variety an aesthetic sense or "aesthetic space" all its own. Together the thousands of pieces that have recently appeared form a unique world-view, one that can be felt almost subliminally, but that is very difficult to describe. They are not generally otherworldly or mystical, but rather transcendently playful, a pleasing vision of the propitious. In the Tibetan view they are, along with other decorative goods, more like auspicious companions, helping to light up the day and the night with positive energy. They are auspicious carpets.
© Ted Worcester
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