page_title: DOBAG Carpet Initiative
section_title: DOBAG's approach to carpet manufacturing
hierarchical_section_title: DOBAG Carpet Initiative / Background and History / DOBAG's approach to carpet manufacturing
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Färberkrapp. A Rhizom der Pflanze. B Blühende Stengelspitze. 1 Blüte; 2 dieselbe im Längsschnitt; 3 Pistill; 4 Ovar im Querschnitt; 5 Frucht. A, B und 5 in natürlicher Grösse; 1, 2, 3, 4 vergrössert. Latina: Rubia tinctorum. Русский: Марена красильная. A — корневище растения; B — верхушка стебля цветущего растения; 1 — цветок; 2 — то же в продольном разрезе; 3 — пестик; 4 — завязь в поперечном разрезе; 5 — плод.
context_page_description: DOBAG is the Turkish acronym for "Doğal Boya Araştırma ve Geliştirme Projesi" - the Natural Dye Research and Development Project. The project aims at reviving the traditional Turkish art and craft of carpet weaving. It provides inhabitants of rural village in Anatolia – mostly female – with a regular source of income. The DOBAG initiative marks the return to the traditional rug production by using hand-spun wool dyed with natural colours, which was subsequently adopted in other rug-producing countries.
context_section_description: DOBAG Carpets are woven with Turkish knots. Warps and wefts are made of sheep wool, the pile consists of handspun wool, dyed locally with natural dyes prepared according to the recipes as experimentally re-established. No chemical treatment is applied after the carpet has been finished.
  Dyes used for DOBAG carpets are obtained from plants, and include:
  Red from Madder (Rubia tinctorum) roots,
  Yellow from plants, including onion (Allium cepa), several chamomile species (Anthemis, Matricaria chamomilla), and Euphorbia,
  Black: Oak apples, Oak acorns, Tanner's sumach,
  Green by double dyeing with Indigo and yellow dye,
  Orange by double dyeing with madder red and yellow dye,
  Blue: Synthetic Indigo is used because it is chemically identical to natural indigo gained from Indigofera tinctoria.,
  DOBAG carpets are delivered both with a leather tag and seal attached to the carpet for identification, as well as with a certificate stating the weaver's name, village, and region where the carpet was woven. DOBAG carpet weavers are paid per knots, thus ensuring a fair wage system. Once a carpet has been sold, the weaver is granted an additional bonus. The commercial branch of the initiative directly exports the carpets to authorized dealers only, thus avoiding intermediate trade.
  Thus, technically, the DOBAG project seeks to revive the tradition of Turkish carpet weaving. On a social level, the project aims at halting the effects of urbanization by providing a continuous source of income to village women.
caption: Madder (Rubia tinctorum) plant
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