'Silk Road' tapestries weave craft and beauty, function and form

Dany Beylerian’s passion — collecting exotic textiles — came about in an unlikely way: rummaging through the trash.

“One day I was walking my bulldog,” explains the Memphis-based entrepreneur, 41, originally from Paris, France. “My wife and I were talking about getting a rug for our apartment. My dog started sniffing this crumpled rug. I would have never picked up anyone’s trash, but on that day I don’t know why I did — and it looked fine, very nice.”

The Rhodes graduate, who was living in New York City at the time, spotted a tag on the rug that bore a leading name in fabric cleaning and restoration, Costikyan.

“I said, ‘My gosh, this must be a nice piece.’ So I sent it to someone to get cleaned. He told me it was ... a Persian rug, and he said the retail value was $25,000.”

Beylerian’s fascination with rarefied cloth has only grown in the years since, and the fruits of his procuring labors can be seen in “Tapestries of the Silk Road: A Selection from the Beylerian Collection,” an exhibit of some 40 pieces at the Memphis Jewish Community Center, 6560 Poplar, that opens Thursday with a 7:30-9:30 p.m. reception and runs through Jan. 10.

Like the rich cultural and esthetic language of African-American vernacular quilts, hand-woven, hand-dyed tapestries represent an artful merger of craft and beauty, function and form — elegantly composed adornments and dowries made with natural, indigenous materials such as saffron, indigo and pomegranates and once used in a variety of contexts from pillows and bedspreads to wall hangings and decorative tent flaps.

Beylerian’s sampling of antique and contemporary tapestries, some from the 19th century, spans the length of the fabled Silk Road trading route that connected the Asian continent with the Mediterranean — hence the show’s title — and includes pieces of Greek, Armenian and Turkish origin as well as examples from such central Asian countries as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, and the famous boteh or palme designs of Kashmir (better known as “paisley” after the Scottish town famous for its boteh-patterned shawls).

Of French-Armenian heritage, Beylerian — who will give a lecture at Thursday’s reception — says he got to know the dealers, markets and auction houses of his expensive hobby through his former travels as an embassy aide/consultant. This exhibit marks the first time he has publicly shown portions of his collection.

Memphis Jewish Community Center cultural arts coordinator Amy Israel said the history and culture behind the tapestries — some of which have strong Jewish connections — drew her into booking the exhibit.

“I just found it to be so fascinating and something different and exciting to bring to the community,” she says.

Ironically, with the advent of artificial dyes and mechanical weaving in the 20th century, the sense of community and tradition that once defined tapestry-making as something handed down from mother to daughter no longer exists, notes Beylerian.

“It’s a dead art,” he says. “And therefore it’s a great time to collect them.”

“Tapestries of the Silk Road: A Selection from the Beylerian Collection”

On display through Jan. 10 at the Memphis Jewish Community Center, 6560 Poplar. An opening-night reception 7:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday will include a lecture by Dany Beylerian. For more information, call 761-0810, or go to jccmemphis.org.

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