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carpetT A L E S

The origins of revered Beirut-based oriental and decorative carpet maker Iwan Maktabi date back to the early

20th century to Isfahan, Iran

Words by REBECCA ANNE PROCTORPhotography by TONY ELIAH

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Mona, Chirine and Mohamed Maktabi in their showroom in Beirut

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It is early morning in downtown Beirut and at Iwan Maktabi’s showroom several carpets are in the midst of being hung. They are by CC Tapis, an Italian company producing contemporary hand-knotted rugs created in Nepal by expert Tibetan artisans, and Jan Kath, one of the world’s most in-demand designers of

hand-knotted carpets. He also uses Nepalese weavers to create his magnifi cently coloured designs. These vibrant modern carpets are positioned adjacent to oriental carpets boasting elaborate patterns and antique oriental furniture. This is the world of Iwan Maktabi where the old and the new stand by each other in perfect harmony.

“My father had a dream,” says Chirine Maktabi. “‘I will create something different,’ he said, ‘We want to be different’ and he encapsulated this dream in all of us since we were young.” The dream of Hajj Hussein Maktabi, the grandfather of Mohamed, Chirine and Mona Maktabi, was to sell beautiful antique and modern carpets from his homeland in Iran to clients across the Middle East and beyond. Hussein immigrated from Isfahan to Beirut in 1926 and like his father before him, he had a passion for collecting fi ne oriental carpets. The tradition to sell fi ne carpets and beautiful Middle Eastern objects remained in the family until Abbas Maktabi, father of Chirine, Mohamed and Mona decided to introduce an unusual twist into the family’s carpet trading business, revolutionising how oriental carpets, a signature design reference point for most Middle Eastern households, would be seen. “My father was one of seven brothers and he was a visionary,” says Mohamed. “He opened the Swiss and the Saudi markets - he was an entrepreneur and explorer.” He also believed in the power of marketing - in how to sell a product effectively and to the right audience. “He used to take notes after he would meet someone,” remembers Chirine. “Every moment, every encounter was important to his life and business.”

During the early twentieth century Hajj Hussein used to do business with carpet sellers in Damascus and Baghdad. “These capitals were important trading centres at the time,” explains Mohamed. “And then he moved to Damascus and bought a house there and from Damascus, he visited

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Views of the oriental carpets in the Iwan Maktabi showroom

Mohamed Maktabi in his offi ce

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“ M Y F A T H E R H A D A D R E A M . ‘ I W I L L

C R E A T E S O M E T H I N G D I F F E R E N T , ’ H E S A I D ,

‘ W E W A N T T O B E D I F F E R E N T ’ A N D H E

E N C A P S U L A T E D T H I S D R E A M I N A L L O F U S

S I N C E W E W E R E Y O U N G ”

C h e r i n e M a k t a b i

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Beirut and discovered this gem of a city nestled between sea and mountain, and many foreigners doing business there. He sent a telegraph to his wife, telling her they were moving the family to Beirut. He said the same to his cousins in Isfahan: ‘I found the perfect place for you. Come to Beirut.’” And so the family moved. A port city like that of Beirut provided a lot of opportunities. “During the Lebanese civil war, my father and his brothers managed to save all the carpets from the looters,” says Mohamed. The fi rst retailers for carpets in Lebanon, until the civil war took place, the Maktabis had an international clientele from all over the world coming to their shops in Lebanon. Soon after they opened a wholesale operation in Switzerland and catered to carpet galleries in Italy, Germany and France. In the early eighties, the Maktabis opened retail stores in Saudi Arabia.

“When you move from one country to the other and have the heritage of your motherland, you look back with nostalgia - you want to preserve something from your heritage. For us, it was Persian Carpets,” adds Mohamed. The Maktabis continued their business through the war in Lebanon but maintained businesses abroad. Yet something set Abbas apart from the rest of his family. “He loved tribal and Nomadic carpets, and not only fi ne city carpets” says Mohamed. “He was more interested in acquiring Caucasian and Southern Persian Tribal pieces than the rest of the family. These were not considered a rich man’s carpet - they were more ethnic, hence some disagreement among the brothers. My father’s brothers didn’t understand why they needed to invest more in these carpets and wanted to stick to the classic Persian carpets.” So Abbas opened the fi rst Iwan Maktabi store for the carpets that he loved and it was an instant success. The whole family - Mohamed, Chirine and Mona - worked at the showroom. “Always tell the story behind the carpet, my father always said,” says Chirine. The small shop was on Verdun Street and it was entrusted to Mohamed’s sisters while he continued to work for the main family business.

“My father encouraged his daughters to work - something which was not common back then for women,” says Mona. She, Chirine and their sister Zeina dedicated themselves to running the gallery wholeheartedly and with passion. Then in 1995, Mohamed left his uncles’ business for good and joined his sisters at Iwan. Where did the name Iwan come from? “It was selected carefully after a lot of research,” said Mohamed. “The Iwan was the throne room of Khosrow the Great in Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian Empire (close to modern day Baghdad). When Arab invaders succeeded to enter Ctesiphon, they discovered the riches of the Persian King in

his throne room, and told the tale of the great carpet that covered the walls of the Iwan, woven in silk and gold, and encrusted in precious stones. The carpet was dubbed ‘The Spring of Khosrow’ and it was divided among the invaders. The 9th century Arab poet Al Bohtori even mentioned these riches in his poems. “This carpet is part of Arab and Persian history - it had all the ingredients of our family history!” exclaims Mohamed. And so Iwan Maktabi: House of Tribal Carpets and Kilims was born.

Fast forward to the present and Mohamed, Chirine and Mona have kept the innovative, forward-thinking spirit of Iwan Maktabi alive. “We are always looking to create something new - looking at new designers to bring on board,” says Mohamed. “We were the fi rst carpet shop with beautiful shop windows; the other carpet shops had been bombed during the war and continued to keep their windows bolted up,” continues Mohamed. “My father wanted to showcase his beautiful items; he wanted to celebrate beauty and creativity.” Today, Iwan Maktabi continues the tradition of elaborate marketing, innovative products and with a base that stems from the family’s ancient Persian past. The showrooms in the swanky Ashrafi eh district of Beirut and at The Dubai Mall are akin to stepping inside an elegant home - the sleek boutiques brim with colour, life and creativity with displays that are constantly changing and featuring a host of exhibitions that continually link the Middle Eastern past to its contemporary present. iwanmaktabi.com

“ W E A R E A L W A Y S

L O O K I N G T O C R E A T E

S O M E T H I N G N E W —

L O O K I N G A T N E W

D E S I G N E R S T O B R I N G

O N B O A R D ”

Views of carpets, chairs and pillows in the Iwan

Maktabi showroom

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The DESIGN FOCUSMona and Cherine Maktabi in the Iwan Maktabi showroom in Beirut in front of a carpet by Jan Kath