Johnson County Community College
Press Release
College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122
4/12/07
Story by Peggy Graham
Experts Discuss South Persian Tribal Weavings at JCCC
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College Interior Design Program and Kansas City Oriental Rug and Textile Association are sponsoring a presentation on South Persian Tribal Weavings at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in the Craig Community Auditorium on the second floor of the General Education Building.
Admission is $10, available by calling the JCCC Foundation office at (913) 469-3835, before May 9. The presentation is a fundraiser for the JCCC Interior Design Program. Ann Nicholas and Richard Blumenthal, Boston, have collected small South Persian tribal weavings for almost two decades. When they became curious about the nomads of this region and how their woven items were used, they began searching for photographs of South Persian nomadic life. The photographs provided a rich culturalcontext for appreciating and understanding their woven items. The husband-and-wife couple will discuss how weavings are an indispensable part of nomadic life and show bags and pictures from their collections. They encourage others to bring South Persian tribal weavings for show and tell.
Nicholas and Blumenthal both worked more than 25 years as biochemists in academia and industry. When they wanted to understand more about the life of the people who wove the pieces in their collection, it was only natural that they used a scientific approach. They read the historical and ethnographic literature, interviewed people who had experience with the South Persian nomads and their weavings, and searched for photographs. They found thousands of photographs in current, rare and out-of-print books; university and museum archives; and in personal collections of ethnographers. In reviewing the information, they realized it confirmed many current ideas about how weavings were used by the South Persian nomads, but some currently held notions needed to be re-examined. Because of this work, they were invited to write two articles on “South Persian Tribal Weavings” by HALI, an international journal of carpet, textile and Islamic art.
Their initial curiosity about their hobby grew until it took on a life of its own. Now the couple has two collections – small South Persian tribal weavings and photographs of South Persian nomadic life
