Arts Society – Carpet Ride to Khiva – The Revival of 15th century Timurid Carpet Design

Do escape the chill and come for an exotic, richly illustrated talk

If you are not a member (we are recruiting new members now) do come as a visitor to the hall. Just pay £10 at the door.

Betchworth Village Memorial Hall will open at 1.45 pm when tea and coffee will be served until 2.15 pm. Lectures begin promptly at 2.30pm. Those attending are asked to be seated by 2.25pm.

Monday 16th February 2026 at 2.30pm

Our lecturer Chris Aslan spent his childhood in Turkey and Lebanon, and much of his adult life in Central Asia. He is a writer, a lecturer on art and textiles, and a leader of tours to Central Asia.

The Silk Road conjures images of the exotic and the unknown. Most travellers simply pass along it. Brit Chris Alexander chose to live there. Ostensibly writing a guidebook, Alexander found life at the heart of the glittering madrassahs, mosques and minarets of the walled city of Khiva – a remote desert oasis in Uzbekistan – immensely alluring and stayed. Accompanied by a large green parrot, a ginger cat and his adoptive Uzbek family, Alexander recounts his efforts to rediscover the lost art of traditional weaving and dyeing. It is an unforgettable, true travel story of a journey to the heart of the unknown and the unexpected friendship one man found there

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