| EXHIBITIONS PREVIEW

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pieces from members’ collections, with selections from two dozen owners. In addition to ‘conventional’ pieces such as a Salor Turkmen chuval (8), the rugs, bags, and textiles of all kinds will also include some moreunusual items such as a beaded cache-sexe fromCameroon, a Qashqa’i tentband, and even someold molas from Panama. Every lender is being asked to provide their own label texts, explaining what they find most notable about each piece. This should allow visitors some insight into the criteria that collectors use when evaluating items for acquisition, and help viewers to appreciate and understand pieces from traditions with which they are less familiar.

Collectors’ Pick – Favorites from Four New England Collections Although the NERS membership represents a very broad range of collector interests, it also has strength in depth. This exhibition highlights some twenty pieces drawn from four collections – those of Mark & Margie Hopkins, Ann Nicholas & Richard Blumenthal, Alfred & Suzanne Saulniers, and Gerard Paquin. Mark Hopkins has been particularly busy on behalf of ACOR 8. Not only is he the chair of the conference organising committee, but he is also lending a fine selection of Baluch rugs for this exhibition. He has chosen a group of pile piecesthat demonstrate an array of unexpected colour and design configurations, including rugs, balishts (7), and an unusual small format weaving in a prayer design. Ann Nicholas and Richard Blumenthal have been collecting seriously for over twenty years, focusing primarily on South Persian bags (9).

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32 I HALI 144