Issue 228 · Summer 2026·Kazakh embroidered suede robes, Two 16th-century weavings linked by powerful art dealers, An inscribed Caucasian dowry rug and its matrimonial symbolism
Celebrating 40 years and 200 editions of HALI magazine, HALI London was the first London festival devoted to the art and history of textiles.
K
Katie Welch
·2 min read·03 Sept 2019·
Celebrating 40 years and 200 editions of HALI magazine, HALI London was the first London festival devoted to the art and history of textiles. Four unique elements came together to form the week-long celebration. The HALI Fair, Events, Symposium and Tour offered attendees the chance to look at textiles—symbols of wealth and status that have been traded across continents for centuries—as the key to unravelling complex cultural narratives.
HALI FAIR
HALI London attendees at the HALI Fair opening.
Twenty of the best international dealers offered a wide range of vintage and antique textile art, from important collectors’ pieces to more affordable decorative items at London's Mall Galleries HALI Fair. Pieces exhibited included Berber rugs from Morocco, suzani embroideries and ikat textiles from Central Asia, West African prestige cloths and Tunisian indigo shawls, as well as fine Persian and other oriental carpets, tribal rugs, kilims and unique handmade artefacts from all corners of the globe.
HALI EVENTS
Elena Tsareva offers a close-up view of treasured rugs from the Neville Kingston Collection at the HALI London Special Guests: Show and Tell.
HALI London goers attended guided visits in and around London to view carpets and textiles in museum archives and private collections. The programme also included a film screening, talks, workshops and other events.
HALI SYMPOSIUM
Michael Franses, HALI Chairman and Editor Emeritus, offering opening remarks and welcome at day two of the HALI Symposium, 'Making the Past Present: Collecting and Collections of Antique Carpets and Textiles', at the National Gallery.
The programme involved two full-day symposia, each with twelve lectures by international museum specialists, scholars and academics.
HALI TOUR
Tour leader Jackie Coulter and Collections Care Manager and Conservator at the Whitworth in Manchester Ann French show members of the group Late Antique textiles in the museum stores.
A HALI Tour followed HALI London, offering exclusive access to outstanding rugs and textiles in ‘Great British Collections’.
HALI 200
HALI 200
HALI 200, the anniversary issue, was given out at the HALI Fair and is now available here!
