Ft. Lauderdale Show

Sturee Tribal Village has a booth at the Bead Mercantile Show this weekend.  Click on the image below for Show info and directions:

Afghan Tribal Arts in Tucson!

Afghan Tribal Arts is in Tucson!

Gem and Bead Show 2012

Howard Johnson's, Room 149

Through February 13

For stories about the trip, visit Rayela's Fiber Focus.

Fly away on your own magic carpet!

Maymana Kilim, Afghan Tribal Arts

Handmade wool carpets and kilims are wonderful!  They are much healthier to live with than synthetic ones.  Their natural oils allows for easier cleaning and they just have so much character and depth to them.  An old one, with repairs and wear, is especially treasured by collectors and pundits.  I've often wondered what it would be like if an old carpet came to life one day and told its story.  Especially one that traveled around on a caravan....  Gabbeh, the movie, captures some of this in its story.  A young woman's longing for a young man she cannot have, she weaves her story into the rug.  Past and future are captured in the threads:

We have been working hard at getting Afghan Tribal Arts stocked on Etsy.  There is now a great selection of beads, jewelry, textiles, and finally, a few rugs.  Part of the problem is that rugs take up so much room and they are heavy.  Shipping them can be expensive.  Even though we have a good variety and number in our inventory, it's challenging to list them online.

Antique Khal Mahamadi, Afghan Tribal Arts

So, for now, we are listing a few smaller ones.  The one above, for example, is an antique, estimated to be over 100 years old.  Originally, it probably was red and brown.  There is also a newer war rug:

War Rug, Afghan Tribal Arts

War rugs became popular during the war with Russia, a way to document the story.  Now there are ones that talk about the war with the United States and about 9/11.  

To see what we have in stock on our Etsy shop, click here.   We also have many rugs, piles of them, in our Sturee Tribal Village gallery in Pendleton, South Carolina.  If you are in the neighborhood, it's worth a visit!

Piles of rugs at Sturee Tribal Village

Gorgeous video of Afghanistan

One of the most beautiful tributes to Afghanistan and its people that I have seen to date:

Afghanistan – touch down in flight from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo.

The background info:

As each of us has his own impression of Afghanistan that is predominantly marked with pictures of foreign forces, explosions and terror, we were privileged to have access to capture daily life and portrait some people of Afghanistan.  We hope the pictures you know will merge with the pictures you see and will enrich your view on the country in the Hindu Kush.

locations:
Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif
We wanted to go to other places as well but there were several incidents and security was too bad. Just one day after shooting at the blue mosque in Mazar-e Sharif a mob started from the very same place storming the UN building.

I have lived from 2006-2008 in Kabul doing my civil service for a humanitarian aid organization. This March I had the chance to go back with my fiancée to show her the place I love and to capture the beauty of this country with our cameras.

At the same time I made this as a tribute to a dear friend, who was shot in the streets of Kabul. Gayle inspired me in her love and dedication for the Afghans.

Lisa-Maria Puy who composed the music for us was wonderful to work with. We met her on Zanzibar island and back in Germany she composed this wonderful soundtrack within just 3 days (and nights). She studied music at HfM Detmold in Germany and is a very talented artist and we hope to work with her again.
You can contact her on: puy-music[at]gmx.de

I hope you enjoy and we are happy for your honest feedback.
Lukas and Salome Augustin


website: lukasaugustin.de
more information and production photos:
facebook.com/pages/Augustin-Pictures/161244407238332
Twitter: twitter.com/LukasAugustin

© by Lukas and Salome Augustin
All rights reserved
Feel free to watch it on Vimeo, to share on Facebook, Twitter etc. but please ask for embed permission and please don't upload the video on Youtube or any other site. Thank you!

Green Serpentine Beads in our Etsy Shop

Green Serpentine from Afghanistan

We have been working steadily on getting the Etsy shop loaded with textiles, jewelry and beads.  We now have a nice selection up of green serpentine.  

Click to go visit!

Sturee Tribal Village at the PrimeXpo Gem and Jewelry Philadelphia Show

Fluorite beads from Afghanistan

Sturee Tribal Village, Afghan Tribal Art's retail gallery, will have a booth this weekend at the PrimeXpo Gem and Jewelry Show in Philadelphia.  Click here for show information.

As usual, we will have our handmade, carved beads: semi precious stones such as lapis lazuli, carnelian, jade, serpentine, malachite along with vintage tribal jewelry from Central Asia.  Hope to see you there!

New Textile Stamps Listed on Etsy!

Afghan Tribal Arts on Etsy

Textile production has always been one of the great commodities traded along the Silk Road.  Afghanistan's many ethnic groups all contribute to these traditions with variations in technique and design.  Workshops which print or printed their own fabrics also carved their own stamps.  Over time, they become worn with cracks and imperfections.  These cast-offs are highly valued by the textile and fiber art community in the west.  As more and more fiber artists plunge into surface design experiments, they expand their own collections of tools, such as these stamps, coming from Asia and Africa.

Focal textile stamp.

We now have a nice supply of textile stamps available in our Etsy shop:  AfghanTribalArts.  There are basically three kinds of stamps:  focals which are used as central images, fillers which fill the space around a focal and borders, used to outline a textile or focal area. 

Border Textile Stamp

Most of the designs from Afghanistan depict flowers or geometric designs as animals and people are discouraged under Islamic religious directives.  Ornate and graceful, these old stamps also make beautiful art pieces on their own.  They can sit on book shelves or by adding picture frame hangers, cluster on a wall.

Here is a beautiful video from India showing similar stamps in use:

We combine shipping on multiple purchases and give free shipping on orders over $100 in the United States.  The shop is full of treasures:  hand-carved beads, vintage tribal jewelry, embroidered textiles, and much more.  Come visit!