Tweet
WEAVING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IN STEPANAKERT
http://asbarez.com/123588/weaving-economic-prosperity-in-stepanakert/
Friday, May 30th, 2014
Flora, Rima, and Aveta clean raw wool before processing
STEPANAKERT--Among the most storied of Armenian artistic traditions,
carpet weaving had its historic epicenter in Artsakh, a crossroads
for traders between Asians from the east, Persians and Arabs to the
south and southwest, and Romans and other Europeans to the west.
The vivid hues, painstaking detail, and original designs made Armenian
rugs - particularly those from Artsakh - a prized good, highly sought
after for their quality and aesthetic depth. As traders exported
physical rugs, they took with them the stylistic elements unique to
rugs of Armenian origin that then infused rugs made in other regions.
Much of the Armenian rug industry was abruptly and violently uprooted
during the Genocide and the parallel physical and cultural destruction
of Artsakh's Armenian population. During much of the 20th century,
Armenian rugs were usurped by Turks in the west and called Turkish
while Armenian rugs in the east were stolen by the Azerbaijanis and
called Azerbaijani.
Seamstresses producing new clothing
Some production continued in the Soviet Union but with millennia-old
techniques and processes violated and then sternly curtailed, Armenian
carpet weaving was a shadow of its former self. Independence changed
all that.
Today, Armenian rug making is being revived in Artsakh. And not just
the rugs. The actual process of the making rugs, using traditional
methods without the use of any mechanized machinery are also making
a comeback. These efforts are being spearheaded by the Stepanakert
Rug Company.
The previously derelict Karabakh Silk Factory shut its doors at the
fall of the Soviet Union but was recently born anew as the site of
a burgeoning business zone.
Putting to work dozens of employees from Stepanakert and surrounding
areas, the rug company leased a space in the factory and made it into
the main production center for high-quality, hand-woven Armenian rugs
from Artsakh.
Gino (Giuseppe) is the sewing facility's engineer
Most of the employees at the factory are previously unemployed women.
With competitive pay and good working conditions, the rug company is
creating opportunities that are helping to train a new and skilled
workforce.
The rugs are completely locally produced good, 100% made in Artsakh.
Besides the workers, the factory, and the traditional designs, the
materials used in the rugs, particularly the pure lamb's wool, are
locally sourced. In fact, once the raw wool arrives, it is taken to the
basement of the same building where another local company cleans it,
refines it, colors it, and then sells it to the rug making operation
upstairs. The synergies between the different businesses create jobs
from the farms providing the wool to the people working the machines
that refine and color the wool, to the carpet weavers.
The rugs are woven using the traditional Armenian method of a double
knot contrasting with the Persian one and a half knot, making the rugs
produced in Artsakh denser, of a better quality, and competitive. And
it's all done by hand - no machines.
Student Ruzanna Hakopyan is a new employee at the factory
Artsakh doesn't have a large market but that's not stopping the
Stepanakert Rug Company from setting its sights on the global market.
With a short drive on the Stepanakert-Goris highway, built by Armenia
Fund, goods easily reach Yerevan for delivery anywhere in the world.
Envisioning a high demand for its product, the company has opened
two more production centers in the north and the south of Artsakh.
The export-oriented company's success is encouraging larger enterprises
to consider Artsakh as a business hub with a talented workforce ready
to deliver high-quality products at reasonable costs.
Along with generous incentives from the government, the climate has
been ideal for other businesses to set up shop in the same facility
as the Stepanakert Rug Company. Among them is a wool processor,
textile fabric manufacturer, a clothier, and a nearby, renovated
building that will be the future home of food processing businesses.
Erik works on a wool processing machine
In another part of the building, massive silk processing machines
remained in the factory after it shut down, not sold as scrap metal to
Iran unlike was done in other parts of Armenia. The restored machines,
having undergone extensive upgrades, were fired up for the first
time in decades and are now functioning and productive parts of the
larger facility.
Together, these outfits are employing hundreds of locals, many of whom
did not have jobs for before the Karabakh Silk Factory was reopened
as a center for business.
Infrastructure is important. Highways, schools, hospitals, and
waterways form the foundation upon which creativity, ingenuity, and
growth thrive. So, while Armenia Fund, with its worldwide network
of benefactors, continues to strengthen Armenia's infrastructure,
it's worth occasionally stepping back and seeing the impact it has
already had in areas that might not seem connected but which are part
of the same flourishing ecosystem. The Stepanakert Rug Company and
its neighbors in the old Karabakh Silk Factory know that and they
represent the fruits of a decades-long faith in a better Armenia
built by all Armenians.
http://asbarez.com/123588/weaving-economic-prosperity-in-stepanakert/
Friday, May 30th, 2014
Flora, Rima, and Aveta clean raw wool before processing
STEPANAKERT--Among the most storied of Armenian artistic traditions,
carpet weaving had its historic epicenter in Artsakh, a crossroads
for traders between Asians from the east, Persians and Arabs to the
south and southwest, and Romans and other Europeans to the west.
The vivid hues, painstaking detail, and original designs made Armenian
rugs - particularly those from Artsakh - a prized good, highly sought
after for their quality and aesthetic depth. As traders exported
physical rugs, they took with them the stylistic elements unique to
rugs of Armenian origin that then infused rugs made in other regions.
Much of the Armenian rug industry was abruptly and violently uprooted
during the Genocide and the parallel physical and cultural destruction
of Artsakh's Armenian population. During much of the 20th century,
Armenian rugs were usurped by Turks in the west and called Turkish
while Armenian rugs in the east were stolen by the Azerbaijanis and
called Azerbaijani.
Seamstresses producing new clothing
Some production continued in the Soviet Union but with millennia-old
techniques and processes violated and then sternly curtailed, Armenian
carpet weaving was a shadow of its former self. Independence changed
all that.
Today, Armenian rug making is being revived in Artsakh. And not just
the rugs. The actual process of the making rugs, using traditional
methods without the use of any mechanized machinery are also making
a comeback. These efforts are being spearheaded by the Stepanakert
Rug Company.
The previously derelict Karabakh Silk Factory shut its doors at the
fall of the Soviet Union but was recently born anew as the site of
a burgeoning business zone.
Putting to work dozens of employees from Stepanakert and surrounding
areas, the rug company leased a space in the factory and made it into
the main production center for high-quality, hand-woven Armenian rugs
from Artsakh.
Gino (Giuseppe) is the sewing facility's engineer
Most of the employees at the factory are previously unemployed women.
With competitive pay and good working conditions, the rug company is
creating opportunities that are helping to train a new and skilled
workforce.
The rugs are completely locally produced good, 100% made in Artsakh.
Besides the workers, the factory, and the traditional designs, the
materials used in the rugs, particularly the pure lamb's wool, are
locally sourced. In fact, once the raw wool arrives, it is taken to the
basement of the same building where another local company cleans it,
refines it, colors it, and then sells it to the rug making operation
upstairs. The synergies between the different businesses create jobs
from the farms providing the wool to the people working the machines
that refine and color the wool, to the carpet weavers.
The rugs are woven using the traditional Armenian method of a double
knot contrasting with the Persian one and a half knot, making the rugs
produced in Artsakh denser, of a better quality, and competitive. And
it's all done by hand - no machines.
Student Ruzanna Hakopyan is a new employee at the factory
Artsakh doesn't have a large market but that's not stopping the
Stepanakert Rug Company from setting its sights on the global market.
With a short drive on the Stepanakert-Goris highway, built by Armenia
Fund, goods easily reach Yerevan for delivery anywhere in the world.
Envisioning a high demand for its product, the company has opened
two more production centers in the north and the south of Artsakh.
The export-oriented company's success is encouraging larger enterprises
to consider Artsakh as a business hub with a talented workforce ready
to deliver high-quality products at reasonable costs.
Along with generous incentives from the government, the climate has
been ideal for other businesses to set up shop in the same facility
as the Stepanakert Rug Company. Among them is a wool processor,
textile fabric manufacturer, a clothier, and a nearby, renovated
building that will be the future home of food processing businesses.
Erik works on a wool processing machine
In another part of the building, massive silk processing machines
remained in the factory after it shut down, not sold as scrap metal to
Iran unlike was done in other parts of Armenia. The restored machines,
having undergone extensive upgrades, were fired up for the first
time in decades and are now functioning and productive parts of the
larger facility.
Together, these outfits are employing hundreds of locals, many of whom
did not have jobs for before the Karabakh Silk Factory was reopened
as a center for business.
Infrastructure is important. Highways, schools, hospitals, and
waterways form the foundation upon which creativity, ingenuity, and
growth thrive. So, while Armenia Fund, with its worldwide network
of benefactors, continues to strengthen Armenia's infrastructure,
it's worth occasionally stepping back and seeing the impact it has
already had in areas that might not seem connected but which are part
of the same flourishing ecosystem. The Stepanakert Rug Company and
its neighbors in the old Karabakh Silk Factory know that and they
represent the fruits of a decades-long faith in a better Armenia
built by all Armenians.