We live in the magnificent Margaret River region of Western Australia and have a great love of naturally dyed oriental carpets, kilims and related textiles.

Our interest in this wonderful art form became our passion when in 1993 we came across a fascinating carpet weaving project in Turkey which had revived the lost art of using natural dyes.

The name of the project is DOBAG which is a Turkish acronym that stands for Natural Dye Research and Development Project. Established in 1981, the project is administered by Marmara University in Istanbul and set up as two independent co-operatives in two regions of Aegean Turkey.

The DOBAG Project appealed to our strong belief in sustainable, environmentally sound products and ethical business practice.

The carpets are exported and sold outside of Turkey through a few carefully selected dealers. We are the Australian representatives and authorised dealers of DOBAG carpets.

DOBAG has received international recognition for its outstanding artistic and cultural achievements.

DOBAG Carpet in The British Museum, London

The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, All Souls College at Oxford University, Osaka Museum and the Singapore Asian Arts Museum are among a number of the world’s major museums to acquire DOBAG carpets for their collections.

DOBAG carpets feature authentic traditional designs woven using the highest quality hand spun winter wool and natural, vegetable dyes producing radiant, harmonious, lightfast colours. The weavers work at home in their own time at their own pace and are fairly paid. In addition, as members of the co-operative, they participate in the profits. There is no child labour and all children attend school.

Happy shoppers in the Grand Bazaar

Since 2002 we have been leading cultural tours to Turkey where we visit the villages of the DOBAG Project and gain a first hand comprehensive insight into traditional village life and the ancient crafts of natural dyeing and carpet weaving. We then explore the magnificent sites and rich, colourful history of that fabulous country.

Our small group tours to Turkey, and Morocco (12 to 14 travellers) are unique and we have access to people and places not available on the normal package tour.