Kurd

An Afghan Kurd rug, knotted by hand with hand-carded, hand-spun, vegetable-dyed wool, woven by master weavers in northern Afghanistan.

The Kurds are an ethnic group native to a mountainous region of the Middle East often called Kurdistan, spanning parts of present-day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Kurdish rugs developed within a region of long exchange among Persian, Anatolian, and Caucasian weaving traditions, reinterpreted through distinctive local village and tribal styles with a rich range of geometric, floral, animal, and symbolic motifs. Their bold drawing, strong natural color, and regional variation have made Kurdish rugs one of the most expressive branches of Near Eastern weaving.