Meeting Announcement: Turkmen Embroidery with Tom Cole at J.H. Terry Gallery 2323 First Avenue, Seattle Friday, September 12th, 2003, 7:30 PM The subject of this talk is the oft-ignored field of Turkmen embroidery.  Using slides taken over the past few years, Tom Cole will discuss attributions, designs and symbolism.  Unlike other Turkmen weavings, this purely indigenous art form was never intended for commerce or export, making it a particularly interesting vehicle for understanding Turkmen culture.  Distinctions in attributions will be explained, as well as the significance and the origins of much of the design repetoire that is seen in these textiles. Tom Cole is a private dealer who specializes in tribal weavings and textiles from Central Asia. He has been active in the antique tribal rug and textile art trade for more than twenty-five years. Having lived and traveled extensively in Asia, he is familiar with the diverse textile traditions that span from the Near East and Persia, through Central Asia, and along the Silk Road to China. Tom Cole has also contributed to an understanding and appreciation of textile art through his numerous articles in HALI magazine. These include a landmark paper on Tibetan rugs entitled 'A Tribal Tradition' (HALI 49, 1990), as well as 'Chinese Rugs -- Art from the Steppes' (HALI 67, 1993), which offers a fresh perspective on the Chinese carpet weaving tradition. His evolving interests are demonstrated by subsequent articles on Baluch tribal weavings (HALI 76, 1994 & HALI 97, 1998), both of which contributed to the changing landscape of Baluch rug collecting nomenclature. Tom Cole has long been a contributing editor for HALI, representing the magazine in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has written numerous exhibition and event reviews.  But as a writer he is perhaps best known for his entertaining travelogues, in which he has shared with HALI readers his adventures along little-traveled routes in the arid deserts of Baluchistan, the battle scarred landscape of northern Afghanistan and Mazar-i-Sharif, and the labyrinthine back alleys of the forbidden city of Lhasa. A frequent lecturer at the International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC) and the American Conference on Oriental Rugs (ACOR), as well as to various rug societies throughout the United States, Tom Cole's extensive field experience results in an original approach in his writings, with unique perspectives on attribution, provenance, design origins, and aesthetics. Please email Fred Ingham for map!  fingham@yahoo.com