"You need to show people how their rugs are made."

While updating our website, web designer Kate Purcell, fell in love with our rugs. Hearing a bit about the rug-making process, Kate immediately said "You need photos!"

Ryan had a vision. "We're looking to educate our dealers and their clients. All the aspects of the rug-making process are really a mystery. It’s taken me twenty years to understand it. I wanted our website to show how much humanity is involved in making a rug and how it interfaces with nature. A rug is a product from nature. Something is taken from our living environment and transformed into a thing we live with. I wanted to focus on the process and hope the images would inspire people to find a renewed appreciation for handmade rugs in their homes."

Before his trip to Kathmandu last July, Ryan contacted the award-winning photographer Narendra Shrestha requesting "images documenting all processes of rug making, with a focus on the human interaction of the masters, in a photo-journalistic style." Narendra was the perfect photographer for the task. He's known for capturing the raw reality of the people and the scene, whether a weaving factory, or a natural disaster; “I can’t help but pick up my camera and go after stories. I have tried focusing on my family during the earthquake and also recently during the pandemic, but failed."



You wanted photos for your website. So, how did the book come to be?

Ryan: "Narendra shot over eight days last July while I was in Kathmandu. He would send me the photos each evening. You would never know that he was photographing rugs. You would just see the people. I realized that this was more than a sales tool. After I got back and saw all of the images together, I thought 'this should be a book unto its self.' Narendra's photos really captured the whole story - the environment and the people - how it truly is, all together."



Say more about the environment.

Ryan: "Our rugs are made near the great Boudhanath Stupa of Kathmandu which is very special to me, and many others. Kora, the practice of circumambulating the Stupa, is practiced every morning by Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Going to Kora is like being in a river. Life slows down.

There are dozens of monasteries around Boudhanath; so masses of people are practicing meditation nearby. You can feel that the energy is elevated.

I find the ritual practices surrounding the stupa - the lighting of candles, the turning of prayer wheels - reminiscent of the processes of spinning, dying and weaving the wool. The act of slipping mala beads is like the repetitive knotting of the rug."

What is your hope for the book?

Ryan: "My greatest hope is that Beyond the Loom reaches a wide range of people. I hope that as the weavers see their images in the book they feel appreciated. And that they know that what they are doing is meaningful and beautiful and is of value. Also selfishly, I want people to buy rugs so that we can keep making things. I want people who buy the rugs to see the life energy in the rug.

Images speak louder than words."



Are you going to release any digital images from the book? I know dealers and designers like to use these types of images for their marketing.

Ryan: "Yes, we'd like our dealers to be able to use these images. And, we're navigating the balance between sharing widely and ensuring that images are perceived in context. We plan on releasing digital versions of certain photos to our dealers in late summer.

Ideally, dealers will keep their copy of Beyond the Loom in their showroom, so staff and customers can look through it and really get a sense of what goes into making their rugs. We intentionally didn't make the book brand-heavy. Some people have even asked, 'where are the rugs?' We wanted to focus on the people."

What's your favorite picture?

Ryan: "My favorite picture is of a family. The parents are weaving while their kids are doing their homework on the floor next to them. This photo speaks to the wholeness of what’s happening. The work is supporting a family. The parents are working. Their children are learning and studying. And they are together. In many ways, through the image, I experience the richness of their life"   



You've said this book is analog. What do you mean?

Ryan: "The desire to have something analog is the desire to connect to nature. Our rugs are natural. With our hand-made rugs, we are stepping back from technology. 

The question for me is, 'what’s valuable?' Things that we make are valuable. They're harder to throw away. Anything that has an imprint of memory is hard to toss. When I'm touching an old photo in my hands, it's harder to throw away. It feels natural to hold this storybook of photos." 



How can I buy Beyond the Loom?

Individual books are available in the US for $50 each, including shipping.

Please email us at info@tamarian.com.

Internationally, copies of the book are available from HALI

.