The Kardelens Rug Project aims to teach punch rug or rug hooking skills to The Kardelens Fiber Arts group, a talented group of about 20 Turkish artisan immigrants living in the Pittsburgh area.

The Turkish word “kardelens” is the name of a flower that symbolizes resilience and is very meaningful to the group. Kardelens Fiber Art began in 2018 as a project of the Outreach Committee of The Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh in partnership with Jewish Family & Community Services, an organization providing resettlement services for immigrants and refugees. Fiber Arts Guild members assisted the Kardelens group with developing their artisan skills in order to create embroidered jewelry and greeting cards, marble art fans and other items they sell online and at art and craft fairs. The Kardelens Fiber Group will learn rug hooking and/or punch rug skills in order to further increase their artisanal product line to include pillows, wall tapestries, and small floor rugs.

In the words of group coordinator Serap Uzunoglu, “Through our art projects we became aware that we can have a place in the community and we gained our self-confidence again, like we had in our country. We hope to support other newcomers as we have been supported by the Pittsburgh community.”