This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/10/afghan-rug-royal-wedding
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Afghan rugmaker weaves royal wedding tribute | Afghan rugmaker weaves royal wedding tribute |
| (4 months later) | |
| Even remote corners of rural Afghanistan, it turns out, were not immune to the royal wedding fever that gripped tens of millions of people in spring 2011. In one area famous for its elaborate and beautifully woven carpets, the show of pomp and ceremony inspired a unique, laborious tribute to the newly married couple. | Even remote corners of rural Afghanistan, it turns out, were not immune to the royal wedding fever that gripped tens of millions of people in spring 2011. In one area famous for its elaborate and beautifully woven carpets, the show of pomp and ceremony inspired a unique, laborious tribute to the newly married couple. |
| "I watched it on the television, and thought I would put it on a carpet," said Abdullah Turkmen, a businessman from the northern Andkhoi region whose family were glued to a flickering television for hours. "None of us moved the whole time," he remembered. "It was such a beautiful ceremony." | "I watched it on the television, and thought I would put it on a carpet," said Abdullah Turkmen, a businessman from the northern Andkhoi region whose family were glued to a flickering television for hours. "None of us moved the whole time," he remembered. "It was such a beautiful ceremony." |
| The next year Turkmen persuaded Afghan Schools Trust, a UK charity, to fund the first school in his impoverished home village of Qorgan, built by the community on land that each family contributed $4 to buy. | The next year Turkmen persuaded Afghan Schools Trust, a UK charity, to fund the first school in his impoverished home village of Qorgan, built by the community on land that each family contributed $4 to buy. |
| When it was done, he asked the charity's founders for a printout of the official wedding photo to create a tribute and thank you. "I told my wife: 'Try to make the carpet better to broadcast the name of the school all over the world,'" Turkmen said. | When it was done, he asked the charity's founders for a printout of the official wedding photo to create a tribute and thank you. "I told my wife: 'Try to make the carpet better to broadcast the name of the school all over the world,'" Turkmen said. |
| The rug includes an intricate recreation in Afghan wool of the sheer lace on the bride's arms and shoulders, her delicate bouquet and even the shiny buttons on the groom's military uniform. | The rug includes an intricate recreation in Afghan wool of the sheer lace on the bride's arms and shoulders, her delicate bouquet and even the shiny buttons on the groom's military uniform. |
| "My wife just looks at a picture and can recreate it in wool," Turkmen said, showing off the carpet which took more than two months to finish. "Of course it is hard to weave those small things, but my wife is a master, so she could do it. I couldn't. The arms and the flowers were difficult, but the hardest was doing the eyes and the nose." | "My wife just looks at a picture and can recreate it in wool," Turkmen said, showing off the carpet which took more than two months to finish. "Of course it is hard to weave those small things, but my wife is a master, so she could do it. I couldn't. The arms and the flowers were difficult, but the hardest was doing the eyes and the nose." |
| Despite village pride in his wife's work, most people there hope that the school means the next generation will not be weaving a carpet for the wedding of Kate and William's baby, due next month. "We don't have any other profession or jobs, this [carpet weaving] is the only thing we can do. But my children have another choice," Turkmen said, adding that his seven-year-old daughter had set her heart on medical school and now insisted on being called Dr Sediqqa by her family. | Despite village pride in his wife's work, most people there hope that the school means the next generation will not be weaving a carpet for the wedding of Kate and William's baby, due next month. "We don't have any other profession or jobs, this [carpet weaving] is the only thing we can do. But my children have another choice," Turkmen said, adding that his seven-year-old daughter had set her heart on medical school and now insisted on being called Dr Sediqqa by her family. |
| The carpet, which would be worth thousands of pounds if it were for sale, is now headed for Kensington Palace with the founders of Afghan Schools Trust, who plan to present it to the royal couple to fulfil the Turkmen family's hope of spreading the word about their village school. | The carpet, which would be worth thousands of pounds if it were for sale, is now headed for Kensington Palace with the founders of Afghan Schools Trust, who plan to present it to the royal couple to fulfil the Turkmen family's hope of spreading the word about their village school. |
| "I don't think we will be able to personally deliver it ourselves but we have had a promise that it will reach them from someone there," said Godfrey Smith, who has been helping to build schools in Afghanistan for more than a decade. Graduates from the first ones, in areas where less than a quarter of adults could read, are now at universities in Afghanistan, India and even Italy. | "I don't think we will be able to personally deliver it ourselves but we have had a promise that it will reach them from someone there," said Godfrey Smith, who has been helping to build schools in Afghanistan for more than a decade. Graduates from the first ones, in areas where less than a quarter of adults could read, are now at universities in Afghanistan, India and even Italy. |
| "We like the idea of one small isolated rural area in Scotland linking with isolated rural areas in Afghanistan, because they always get forgotten," Smith said. | "We like the idea of one small isolated rural area in Scotland linking with isolated rural areas in Afghanistan, because they always get forgotten," Smith said. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |