The exhibition features hand-woven rugs from the private collection of Margaret Mukherjee. Mukherjee has worked with weavers who represent three different regional traditions of Romania (Oltenia, Moldavia and Maramures) and three different generations, striving to preserve and pass on this important form of the Romanian folk culture.

Mukherjee visits Romania often, each time visiting weavers and adding rugs to her collection. She says, "Greeting the weavers and their families is like greeting old friends. It is always good to see them again. Each rug maker has unique and special talents. I have a deep respect for their dedication and work…the hours they spend in creating a work of beauty. Their rugs are truly a labor of love.” Her formal training in textiles and design gives her valuable perspectives in understanding both the traditions of rug making in Romania as well as contemporary interpretations.

Down Jersey Folklife Center Director, Iveta Pirgova, explains, “The exhibition design reflects a broad definition of cultural heritage as a representation of living expressions and traditional practices, knowledge and skills that groups and communities worldwide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants. Weaving traditions are among the oldest forms of humanity’s cultural heritage. They offer individuals and communities a sense of identity and continuity, insofar as the community members preserve and reproduce them.”

The rugs are displayed to visually illustrate the complex nature of the continuity and change in Romanian weaving traditions. The rugs are paired in a way that would give the best comparison between traditional patterns and modern designs, old motifs and contemporary forms, works of old masters and those of young weavers.

Four types of rugs are showcased: works which represent reproductions of old museum pieces; works in which weavers have used mostly traditional patterns, but have made some changes either in the colors or in the position and the shape of the basic motifs; works where modern forms and colors prevail, but traditional elements have also been preserved; and rugs which represent individual and more abstract ideas of the modern design.

The rugs represent three different regions in Romania – Oltenia, Moldavia and Maramures – each with its distinctive style, colors and dominating patterns. There are the typical floral patterns (often combined with bird motifs symbolizing prosperity) of Olteni; a piece from Moldavia depicting figures with swords; and from Maramures, an abundance of motifs that sometimes seem to be designed as motifs samplers – each motif in its own medallion. The combination of motifs and colors in all Romanian rugs depends on the usage of the rug – where (home or church) and for what (ritual or decoration). The intended usage determines the weaver’s final design.

      Romanian rugs tell interesting stories about the complex process of assimilation of outside motifsand patterns into the local traditions. Anatolian influence on Romanian design and technique can easily be recognized in the popular designs of the well-known “Persian carpets” or “Oriental rugs.” Others, mostly geometric patterns, originated in the Caucasus region. In all cases they were assimilated into the Romanian tradition in a modified way. The shape of certain motifs and patterns is often identical or similar to the Persian or Anatolian ones, but the story behind the form is different and it is the story of the village where the rugs are woven.

Some of the common motifs do not spread around through trade and migration. They are the result of common human experiences or shared beliefs such as the Romanian rugs motifs representing mountains, rain drops or human figures, but the names of the mountains would be the ones closest to the weaver’s village and the humans would be dressed in the local traditional garment. The tree of life motif, which is common in many cultures, has a specific regional interpretation in Romania, as is shown in the “Tree of Life” piece made by Casita Radoi of Oltenia.