Unique & Antique Rug Forum 1-08

The Atlanta Rug Show was held from Jan. 17 to 21, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the biggest area rug show in the U. S. and AmericasMart is the organizer of this exhibition. It was good to see friends and colleagues in this one of a kind carpet show. You could also see what sells and what does not. On Friday 18, 2008, there was a "Unique and Antique Rug Forum" held by the" Oriental Rug Retailers of America" ORRA. Many dealers and professionals participated in this fine event and brought in antique rugs about which they talked. Three judges also added some comments. The judges were Philip Menendian, Daryoosh Chaman, and Dr. Khosrow Sobhe. Many unique pieces were shown. Some discussions went on regarding the origin and the age of few pieces. The event took roughly two hours. It was conducted by Robert Zakian, the new president of ORRA. At the end, the judges selected two rugs as the best rugs shown at the forum and gave prizes to the exhibitors of those two rugs. It was a very fun and educational event.

The first “Unique and Antique Rug Forum” was a big success and was

thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. We hope to host another in the

future and hear and see even more of our members there! We want to thank

our host of judges, Daryoosh Chaman, Dr. Khosrow Sobhe, and Phil Menendian

for donating their time and expertise in this fun event. We would also like to

acknowledge Chas Sydney and AmericasMart for the use of their seminar room

and helping to make this event possible. Everyone who attended had some great

insights, and valuable information to share and the rugs that were viewed were

well worth the little time we took out of our shopping day! Check out

www.orranic.com for some pictures from the event taken by Shirin Sobhe,

Dr. Sobhe’s lovely wife. Read more about this event in ORRA’s upcoming

spring newsletter.

The Walk the Market program was sponsored by the Oriental Rug Retailers of America, ORRA on Friday 18, 2006 at 3:00 pm in cooperation with the AmericasMart, the organizer of the Atlanta Rug Show. Several rug dealers gathered on second floor in front of the ORRA's booth and then, Philip Menendian, the knowledgeable board member and Education chairman of ORRA led a tour of about 2 hours. We went to several showroom s and the principals of those companies lectured about how they produced their rugs with exhibiting some of their newest collections. Like other events, this one was also fun and informative.