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Celebrating Rug Making

ByBunyaad

A wonderful night celebrating rug making and the joy and relaxation of adult coloring!

Over 30 coloring fans gathered at the Bunyaad Rug Room at Ten Thousand Villages in Ephrata, PA, to learn how fairly paid adult artisans carefully color intricate graphs as part of the rug making process. After a short journey through talams, rug graphs and hand knotting rugs, each person got to color their own rug graph tile.

“I came for the coloring but I leave with a much greater appreciation for hand knotted rugs and the quality and uniqueness that fair trade produces,” remarked one coloring night participant. “And I’m still in awe of how many knots are in a 9’x12′ Persian rug…over seven million! Just hard to believe that that many knots are all tied by hand!”

We offer these hands-on learning times roughly 2-3 times a year at the Bunyaad Rug Room at Ten Thousand Villages in Ephrata, Pa. Join our blog email list to learn more!

Next event will be our Rug Festival on Saturday, June 25. Stay tuned for details.

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Bunyaad is the Newest Fair Trade Federation Member

ByBunyaad

FTF Logo

We are thrilled to be approved as the newest Fair Trade Federation (FTF) member this week.

Bunyaad is the first fair trade rug business to join the FTF. The FTF is the trade association that strengthens and promotes North American organizations fully committed to fair trade. Bunyaad is proud to be included with the more than 240 FTF members who have one primary purpose: to support artisans and farmers in developing countries through the practice of fair trade. Fair trade guides each and every trading decision that FTF members make – just like Bunyaad has always operated, right from the beginning.

Thanks to stellar work by Bunyaad staffer Doug Horst, we sailed through the FTF application process and easily qualified for membership. The FTF family includes a number of other highly respected fair traders in Canada and the USA like:

Knot Brothers, The Movie

ByBunyaad

KnotBrothersSquare
We talk a lot about how every knot in a Bunyaad rug is tied by hand but we were recently reminded that we don’t often talk about HOW every knot is tied.
Our rugs use primarily two types of knots: the Senna knot and the Turkish knot.

The Senna knot is an asymmetrical knot and is used in the majority of our rugs, from Persians to Chobi tribals. It is virtually formed with a figure 8 around two warp threads.

The Turkish knot is also tied around two warp threads but instead of a figure 8, it is a knot where both ends of the wool come out together instead of on either side of one warp thread, like the Senna knot.

Confused yet? Let us show you how these knots are tied, as only our staff can… with a little movie.

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Fair Trade Makes Every Day Women’s Day

ByBunyaad

Celebrating first rug

Artisans go to the local sweet market and grab their favorite mithai (sweets), maybe hot gulab jamun soaking up the sugary sweet cardamon syrup or to the local jalebi vendor who is busy lifting hot, orange mini funnel-cake-like rounds out of their copper pot of bubbling oil as the jalebi head to their own bath of heavenly syrup.

One woman carries a carafe of chai made with her water buffalo’s milk. Another grabs more tea cups from her home. It’s time to celebrate.

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Fair Trade is a Revolution

ByBunyaad

bumper-sticker-fair-trade-revolution

“A bond with customers based on shared values is the strongest bond you’ll ever make,” stressed Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s and currently working with Stamp Stampede, a venture dedicated to getting the money out of politics.

Sitting in the room with over 280 other fair traders at the Fair Trade Federation Conference in Burlington, Vermont last week, I almost stood up and shouted “AMEN.”

Renee Bowers, Fair Trade Federation Executive Director, opened that morning sessions reminding us that “as fair traders, we work to give voice” to those who otherwise would not have as loud of a voice in the world.

And in this week where we celebrate World Fair Trade Day, I want to say thank you to our customers who are using their economic dollar to vote for the change they wish to see in the world.

One Comment

  1. We are new to the area and attended this event. It was a wonderful learning experience and fun to boot. We are so impressed with Ten Thousand Villages. We enjoy having lunch in the cafe and have invited friends to experience the cafe plus shopping in the store. We are looking forward to the big sale coming up. Many blessings on this great mission.

    Reply

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