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Avak Shirinian:
Master
Silk carpet designer and Manufacturer .  Avak Shirinian was born in
Bunyan, a
small town of Kayseri, Turkey. He was the fifth of six children. His
father, originally from Zara, Sivas (Sepasdia) In 1920 moved
the Shirinian family to Bunyan sent his eldest son Haigaz for
apprenticeship to a good friend "Puzant Usta" -- a well-known master
carpet weaver in Kayseri. Haigaz progressed to be the most
accomplished and famous master carpet weaver in Kayseri. His younger
brother Avak since his early childhood, exposed to hand woven
textiles, had a very special interest in old and new rugs. He loved wandering all around Anatolia, gathering old carpets,
studying the designs and colors, widening the horizons of his
knowledge. In 1960 the two brothers decided
to move their families and the business from Kayseri to Istanbul.
After a long struggle in the big city, Shirinian brothers started their
own business, providing full service Oriental rug care. The result of
their collective hard work was several successful outlets. While in
Istanbul they had learned of another master weaver of Kum Kapu silk
rugs, Master Zareh, after
whose death the brothers purchased all his materials, the cartoon models,
drawings and few unfinished silk rugs (see the last one on the
left). Combining the style of Zareh Usta with
their own, the Shirinian brothers fabricated most attractive silk rugs.
They created the greatest of all times--The Shirinian Silk Hereke rugs.
Due to the unique richness of their style and the quality of workmanship
the demand started to grow. By the year 1975 The Shirinians
owned one thousand working looms in Hereke. Shirinian Silk Here rugs are
highly sought after around the world.
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"Years ago I had an inquiry to
design and weave several fine silk rugs depicting Quranic verses... says
Avak Shirinian "...The results were successful. The rug became so
beautiful I received many orders. We still weave many variations of prayer
rugs for royal families. During this time I couldn't help thinking of my
Christian faith and our Armenian prayers. I regret that I don't read or
speak my native language, but somehow I remember the Lord's Prayer. I
wondered-- how many other Armenians away from their homeland must be
deprived from their rich Armenian culture. I was determined to effectively
crystallize the1700th anniversary of Armenian Christianity. I must create a special rug to
commemorate my heritage and celebrate the Christian faith of
all Armenians. I searched the local church . I was struck by the Armenian
Manuscripts in old bibles.
I learned that it was tradition to commemorate special events by
ordering Manu scripted bibles and donating them to the church... There was
my inspiration... The "Trchnakir" (a
type of font where every letter is a bird in a different posture). Each
paragraph should start with this beautiful figure. For the border I
decided to place the Armenian Alphabet, also in Trchnakir format,
on a field symbolizing the sky. Two birds, symbolizing the heavenly
spirit, "protect" each letter. The quality of the weaving should
be very fine in over 24 colors... It took three years to
accomplish the first rug, the size was approximately 4' x 6' The cost was
very hi ($45,000.00), it was only possible to weave them by
custom order. So far there has been only less then 5 large rugs. I wanted
to re create a smaller
version of the same rug in limited quantity so it's more cost effective,
I was very
happy with the result, it was beautiful wall hanging or
alter cloth size.
These rugs are marked the commemoration of 1700th Christian Anniversary
301-2001.
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