CARPET WEAVING AND DESIGNING
Shorsh Saleh is an experienced carpet maker and designer. His work has been sold both nationally and internationally to a number of clients including HRH Prince Charles. Saleh teaches carpet weaving at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts and the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.
He also teaches private classes from his studio in London.
The art of carpet making is one of the oldest and most celebrated artistic traditions to have survived to the modern day. Carpets hold a particularly distinguished place in the Middle East where they are held as an item of prestige in mosques, palaces, and houses. The historical methods of carpet weaving are highly valued as skills which incorporate aesthetic beauty with traditional craftsmanship.
Chenin (meaning ‘weaving’) is an organisation set up by Kurdish artist, carpet designer and weaver Shorsh Saleh.
The aim of Chenin is to revive the ancient tradition and skills of carpet weaving in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Chenin provides a sustainable income for local people, from farmers and shepherds to tool makers and weavers.
We run workshops in Iraqi Kurdistan teaching hand weaving and natural dyeing. Farmers will be encouraged to grow and sell native plants for use as natural dyes. Shepherds will be encouraged to produce high quality wool. Existing local weavers will be shown how to run workshops, enabling them to pass on their skills. Classes will be given regarding local traditional carpet designs, explaining the meanings behind the use of symbolic motifs and traditional colours.
Local blacksmiths have been supported with equipment to produce weaving tools, which are available to purchase below.
Chenin is currently working with the Hand Weaving Factory in Sulaimaniyah. Chenin’s first project with the factory is to produce two large scale carpets based on Shorsh Saleh’s designs, which will be exhibited at The Imperial War Museum, London from April- November 2020 as part of theRefugees: Forced to Flee, exhibition.
For more information please go to: www.chenin.info
