Rug Event In Archbold

Ten Thou­sand Vil­lages in Arch­bold, is being trans­formed into a rug gallery with tapes­tries laid out on plat­forms for easy view­ing dur­ing the fifth annual Fair Trade Ori­en­tal Rug Event that runs through Sat­ur­day. Accord­ing to store man­ager Eliz­a­beth Baer, each of the 300 rugs was made in Pak­istan.
Ten Thou­sand Vil­lages is a non-profit fair trade orga­ni­za­tion that has been work­ing since the 1980s to bring fair trade rugs to the U.S. The
Bryan Times reports that Baer says the pro­gram includes 850 fam­i­lies and no child labor is involved. Most of the rug knot­ting arti­sans are between the ages of 18 and 55 and the looms are in the fam­i­lies’ homes so that the women are able to take care of their chil­dren. All the rugs are made from 100 per­cent wool that repels dirt and is stain resis­tant. A spe­cial pre­sen­ta­tion will be given at 7 p.m. Thurs­day detail­ing the process of how the rugs are made and the lives of the arti­sans that cre­ate them.