State of the Rugdom?

[Filiberto Boncompagni]

Hi guys,

These days I find myself in a sort of 'retrospective' mood.

My first post here on Turkotek was in April 2000, almost twenty-two years ago. I remember at the time there was a vibrant activity on the internet and on the market concerning Oriental textiles.
Nowadays it all seems tuned-down. Including, unfortunately, the activity on our forum.

Well, being highly allergic to social media I don't know what is going on there. I know there are groups of discussions about Oriental rugs. How do they fare?

And I stopped years ago to have a look at the 'Rugs Market' (e-Bay, auctions, Internet dealers and so on), but I got the impression that the general interest for exotic textiles has evaporated a bit. And the prices went down.
Is that true? I'd like to know your opinion, please.

Last, but not least...

What happened to our most affectionate troll, Jack Cassin?
I used, perhaps once a year, to have a look at his 'RUG KAZBAH' website just for fun. I checked yesterday and I found that the domain name was up for sale.
His other website, wamri.com shows 'This domain has expired'.

You know? In all honesty, I feel sorry for him.

Filiberto