Desen Halicilik: The Sellers

We were already spellbound when next we were led towards the grand display room. At the entrance, one carpet presented on an easel drew Gino and me like a magnet: an intricate creation in silk depicting a dancing woman and musicians. It was gorgeous and we were ga-ga over it.

How fast can I raise $20,000?

I about wept when I learned that the price tag was $20,000! Still, our eyes kept wandering to it. I was trying to figure out what I could sell in order to afford it. My first-born, maybe? (Nah. He’s priceless.) I finally forced myself to give up the thought of taking it home.

Luckily, we were soon distracted after being shuffled into a huge room completely covered with rugs. They were everywhere: standing in rolls, covering the walls and the floors, and layered on top of each other. We were also sitting on them since the benches surrounding the showroom on three sides were also carpet-covered. We sat mute and mesmerized while the salesmen served us tea — a delicious, magical elixir that made you want to buy carpets.

This usually chatty group was rendered speechless

I was relieved to know that we had not been somehow tricked, sequestered in this showroom while being bombarded by some high-pressure sales pitch. There was simply an informative explanation and description of the different types of rugs and the meanings of their various symbols and colors.

Then we were left to wander and look on our own. Aside from the main display room, several other smaller rooms contained rugs of various kinds.

This one was spectacular, too. Decisions, decisions…

But we kept going back to one rug in particular that we had spotted in the main room.

Of course, we bought it. I took pictures of it before it was rolled off and prepared for shipping. It arrived on our doorstep a couple of weeks after our return home.

That’s ours! And I didn’t have to hock the house to get it.

This special rug now illuminates our living room, resting on a dark wood coffee table, a piece of art not to be walked on, but lovingly displayed. Every time I see it I think of Turkey. And that’s every day.

Desen Halicilik: The Weavers

In the weaving room, women sat in front of various looms, busily creating colorful, intricate carpets before our very eyes. Although they were in the process of making actual carpets, they were obviously also there to demonstrate the process.

Nancy gets a lesson in Turkish carpet weaving as Lynne looks on

You can create more than just carpets with yarn

Desen Halicilik: The Spinners

Our next stop was not far: Desen Halicilik, the Carpet Weavers’ Association in Bergama. For those who had succeeded in side-stepping the carpet sellers in Istanbul, this was a perfect opportunity to buy a quality rug from a reputable place in a relaxed environment.

Desen Halicili is a women’s coop which represents 144 villages and 17,000 women. Here women learn the art of carpet weaving and later, working from home, can earn a good living at it. In coops such as this one, the workers keep 99% of the profit earned from the sales.

Not only did the philosophy of this coop appeal to me, I enjoyed the fact that there were no high-pressure salespeople cajoling you into their shop, calling out guesses regarding your country of origin, or other amusing tactics that became tedious after awhile.

Here at this co-op, business is brought in only by word of mouth and invitation. There are no kickbacks for the tour guides. And your purchase is guaranteed to be a beautiful, handmade piece of art.

Waiting to enter the Desen Halicilik Coop

As we grouped outside the building, a man came out to introduce himself and explain how the coop works. Next we followed him into a large room with a number of displays.

He explained how no chemicals are used to dye the weaving materials used here (wool, cotton, and silk). Only natural products, such as walnut shell, onion skin, saffron, henna, and others create the array of colors found in the intricate designs.

Off to one side was a silk spinning display. Little white pods containing silk worms bobbed in a large, round vat of water.

These silk pods are immersed in water to first loosen their threads before being spun

A silk pod

From these pods, a woman was spinning strands of silk which were then wound onto a kind of wheel.

The silk strands were then gathered into long hanks of what looked like smooth, shiny doll’s hair which could then be dyed and woven into carpets.

The next area was the spinning and weaving room where women were sitting on the floor or very low benches, spinning the carded wool with drop spindles, or in front of looms, weaving carpets before our eyes.