Rojbaş, ROJ KILIM lovers.
Like everybody else, I would love to start from the very beginning. But perhaps every story begins somewhere in the middle. Knowing that makes everything slightly lighter. There is no need to be a perfectionist.
So this is the story of ROJ KILIM.
People often ask me the same questions.
Why “ROJ”?
What does it mean?
Which language is it?
Good questions.
In Kurdish, roj means both day and sun. It is a small word, but it carries warmth, direction, and light. You may have heard it before in names of regions like Rojava (west), or Rojhilat (east), where the sun rises. The word itself feels poetic to me. It sounds like movement, geography, and memory all at once.
Yes, it is Kurdish. And yes, Kurds do exist.
The inspiration behind the name ROJ KILIM comes from Kurdish culture because I, the founder of this small business, am Kurdish and originally from Hakkari, a city in Bakur (north), near the border with Başûr (south). I know, it may sound like a puzzle that has not fully come together yet. Maybe that is because this geography itself has always been a little like a puzzle - layered, shared, ancient, and unfinished.
And then there is Wan/Van.
The city where many of these rugs are coming from also became part of this story. Van is a city in Eastern Turkey, near mountains, lakes, long winters, and very bright summers. There is even a saying that Van is the city that receives the most sunshine in Turkey. I do not know whether that is scientifically true, but I know the sun there feels different because I lived there before moving here to Ann Arbor.
Maybe that is another reason the word roj stayed with me.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that this brand was never only about rugs. It was also about stories, memory, and the feeling of carrying pieces of a place with you after leaving it behind.
We Kurds like stories. We like listening to them and telling them. We like long conversations, songs, memories, and tales that travel from one generation to another. There is even a traditional storytelling form in Kurdish culture called Dengbêjî, where stories are carried through voice, melody, and memory. I will probably write more about that in another journal entry because it deserves its own space.
But I also want to make something clear.
I do not want to claim that these beautiful woven artworks belong only to one people or one identity.
They may carry Kurdish stories and influences. They may also carry Armenian, Turkish, Persian, Anatolian, Mesopotamian, and many other traces from this ancient geography. These kilims are regional, intercultural, and deeply human creations shaped over generations by many hands, villages, and traditions.
Naming the brand in Kurdish is my personal way of honoring my roots and acknowledging the contribution of Kurdish culture to these traditions and crafts. Through ROJ KILIM, I hope not only to bring handwoven pieces into homes, but also to share stories, memories, songs, colors, cuisine, and fragments of a culture that continues to live across borders.
From Van/Wan to Ann Arbor - and hopefully beyond.
Rojbaş,
AAA
1 comment
There is a poetry in the Azad’s language that translates into the rugs. My granddaughter tells me I have too many of these beautiful rugs, and I should give them to her. Maybe. There are actually never enough!