Christopher Farr x

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Christopher Farr x
Turquoise Mountain
Sonar hand-knotted rug

There can be no better way of ‘making good’ than enabling and keeping alive meaningful, fairly paid, dignified work for some of the most skilled artisans who have survived decades of war in Afghanistan. Turquoise Mountain was founded in 2006 by HRH The Prince of Wales to revive historic buildings, crafts and communities. The programme has found international markets for $10 million worth of handmade crafts and its latest collaboration is with Christopher Farr with a collection of exquisite hand-knotted rugs made from hand-spun wool and celebrating the extraordinary cultural heritage of carpet making in Afghanistan.

‘It is a region held in high esteem by every true carpet man and woman and this was my main attraction of working in the area in the 21st century, to not only help preserve the rare skills found there, but also to have the opportunity to access the best wool and skills in the world for carpet making,’ said Matthew Bourne, co-founder and director of Christopher Farr. The collection was launched at the

London Design Festival and includes Sonar, which comes from a series of black and white ink drawings and letterpress prints loosely conceived as homage to Paul Klee’s idea of ‘taking a line for a walk’, which he used to teach students at the Bauhaus.

After four decades of conflict, the majority of contemporary rug production has moved to India or Nepal but this collaboration is an attempt to reinvigorate the craft of carpet weaving in Afghanistan – skills that were once proudly passed through generations of families.

‘This is an incredibly important moment in Afghanistan’ said Shoshana Stewart, CEO of Turquoise Mountain. ‘An opportunity to support a generation of skilled artisans and weavers, and help them preserve exquisite traditions. Turquoise Mountain is proud to be working with Christopher Farr to produce carpets that represent the best of Afghan craftsmanship,’

WORDS FLORIE HARDING | PHOTOGRAPHS BAKER & EVANS | STYLING CLARE PIPER