Carpet Maker Breaks the Mold With Her Bold, Colorful Rugs

Though patterns in most Turkish carpets haven’t changed over the centuries, Belkis Balpinar of Turkey is creating bold designs in kilims, napless tapestry rugs from handmade, hand-dyed yarns.

Designing from her 100-year-old apartment in Istanbul, she creates colorful rugs to be hung on the wall like large abstract paintings.

Balpinar--a scholar, writer, lecturer and museum curator of Turkish carpets--trained as a textile designer and uses her knowledge of traditional design as a basis for her idiosyncratic ones.

Her kilims are available through Stella Krieper at the Craft and Folk Art Museum at (213) 857-4677.