I want to react on your new Salon -The Collector-Dealer Relationship.
But because I really want to keep your website noncommercial and not tell bad things of other people, I send this letter to you. You could put it as reaction if you want, or just translate, maybe in your own words.

I studied textile art-weaving and restoration of preindustrial textiles.
Very quickly it became a real passion, a passion that ended up with a Turkish husband and a carpet shop in Turkey.

For years I did buy some textiles and kilims - good pieces - for myself .
Ýn our shop we did try to have also better pieces but we can not survive on that. I am giving almost every day hours of first introduction into the world of carpets and kilims. Explaining about techniques, quality, history, nomadical life, and much more - usually NOT selling. My student-tourists are always very happy with this, I try to "contaminate" them with what for some people really becomes "sickness", and they will sometimes become new clients for other people, in their own country.

After trying to do this for 9 hardworking years, I must confess that we can not go on this way. We lose money every year and for the moment we are so bad that we HAVE to sell everything, even the pieces we collected for ourselves. It makes me feel very bad and even more bad when I see that the moment you really need money nobody wants to pay an honest price. "Carpet dealers" here in Turkey tell so many stories that almost nobody wants to believe you when you tell the honest truth. Those kilims I am trying to sell now are REALLY my own collected pieces.

I know that you were certainly not talking about Turkish dealers, but reading your Salon I could not resist to "throw out" my frustration. SORRY for this.

To make it good again I want to thank you very much for all the work you do for Turkotek. Turkotek became very important for me. I feel very "green" between you all but I am learning so much! I want you to know for example how important the Salon - Offset Knotting (I forgot its number) was for me. I feel ashamed to confess I never saw offset knotting before. So this opened a big new world of possibilities for me.

I am knotting small carpets already some years now- just for fun - sitting in the shop all (long) day. Using offset knotting I started a new production(?) of miniature carpets. It is really fun to make a Kazak of 14 cm by 20 cm, or a Belouch of 11 cm by20 cm. With offset Knotting I have much more possibilities to make design on small space. By now I am trying to find a market to sell them - we need the money! I hope you are not angry with me now - as "doll house carpets".

And by the way the last Salon was not as bad as you say. Sometimes we need a little smile. Life is serious enough!

A lot of greetings and thanks again, also sorry for my reaction. I only feel so bad that in business honesty is not allowed any more. I can tell hours of crazy stories about 'stupid' tourists!

Sorry

Ludwina Akbulut

I give one example: some days ago two ladies did like a piece in front of my shop. Just a piece that I classify under "handwoven souvenir". They asked the price. I do not want to mention the price here, but it was very cheap. Than she asked me "Is it old?". And I answered that it was a new piece: immediately she was not interested any more and walked away. So she will go to another shop and there the dealer will answer her "of course, very old!", and then she will be interested more.

I always tell people there is only one reason to buy something: because you like it! And then the price must be in good rate with what you get.

Taste is personal! And a piece that was bad 100 years ago will still be bad today.

As long as tourists believe they can find "very valuable old" pieces for free, I classify them under "crazy tourists" or maybe more polite "naive". For other crazy tourist stories you always can Email me (akbulut@ispro.net.tr).

Ludwina Akbulut