War rugs are aptly named. These are rugs that express themes of war in their patterns. They break from the more traditional patterns of seasons, plants, or the boteh and instead use representations of tanks and bombs. These are forms of expression from a foreign culture. A rug can depict a tank moving into a town or dark planes standing out against a bright sky and dropping small yet potent bombs.

Like poetry from an airman or the diary of a young Jewish girl hiding from the German forces in world war two this should be a form of expression that we not only recognize but also appreciate.

Many of my clothes come from India, I have computer parts that come from china and South Korea, I have jackets that come from Sri Lanka, and coffee that comes from Colombia. But it is not that simple. I have clothes that come from many more places than India and my computer is such a mosaic of pieces that it is as if the entire world gave birth to my computer. Our species has become impressively dependant upon each other. I depend on an amazing amount of people to keep me clothed, warm, fed, and working.

While we may depend greatly on each other, most do not really understand the many other cultures aside from our own. I don’t believe this is out of disregard or lack of respect, but

When Americans think of art they often think of things like movies, book, murals, pictures and so forth. Because these are the forms of art that come to mind these are the forms of art that we seek out. However, other cultures use different mediums. In much of the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe rugs and weaving is an extremely important medium of expression. There are traditional forms of weaving such as pile rugs with geometric designs about the seasons or rugs with floral designs representing plants (you can learn more about traditional patterns at www.hazaad.com). However, like any form of art rugs are not stagnant. Over time what a culture expresses, and how they choose to do so changes. Presently there are an increasing number of war rugs being woven. There are rugs that repeat an image of a war plan or express some level of hope with bright colors.

Help bridge this one cultural divide by looking at these rugs as one would other forms of wartime art. In this art form one can find the expression of many people. One can find a unique expression that cannot be found in other media.

John Geer runs the small online rug import business www.Hazaad.com from Davidson, North Carolina.

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