Alumnae Profile
Ann Wood Norton ’61
Weaving War Into Art
It’s no secret that art often reflects the world of its creator, but it’s still jarring to look at rugs made by centuries-old methods and find images of war woven into the designs.
Ann Wood Norton ’61 said she “recoiled at the idea” when she first saw Afghan rugs that incorporated images of tanks, guns, and helicopters. “But it slowly dawned on me that these rugs were telling a story that’s exceedingly important,” she says. Now she owns around sixty “war carpets,” and uses some in an Islamic art course she teaches at Providence College.
A professor of humanities in art history there, Ann specializes in Asian art. Her recent
interest in contemporary art created by women after wars led her to curate two exhibitions last year on the theme. One displayed works by Vietnamese- and Cambodian-Americans; the other showcased carpets by Afghan women. For ages, they have turned wool into intricate, beautiful floor coverings. But in the last few decades, many rug designs reflect the conflicts Afghanistan has recently endured. Instead of peaceful images—gardens, mosques, or ducks on a pond, for example— designs now reveal helicopters flying over a twelfth-century minaret; retreating Soviet tanks; a tree of life with a helicopter in the background. Some rugs are even more “in your face,” featuring only weapons, or New York’s twin towers collapsing on 9/11. Ann’s interest in Islamic art goes back to the mid-1960s, when she lived in what is now Bangladesh. “I feel a responsibility to teach things that will help students become more familiar with what Asia is all about,” she says. As the carpets make clear, the impact of war doesn’t end when the bullets stop flying. “These people are marked forever.” As an art historian, Ann helps students move past their initial horror at the violent subject matter to appreciate the weavers’ artistry. Ann says they are true artists who transform raw experiences during wartime into aesthetically beautiful objects. “I am just amazed at these women and the variety of things they can do,” she says.
Also a Jungian psychoanalyst, Ann wants to learn what these images mean to the artists, and whether weaving war rugs constitutes a type of art therapy. To find out, she hopes to spend an upcoming sabbatical interviewing Afghan weavers about the experiences embedded in their carpets. [Learn more about war rugs at warrug.com or arzurugs.org.]—E.H.W.
