There has been a surge in tourists and consumers coming to London due to the post Brexit depreciation of the pound, with the leisure industry such as hotels benefiting the most. But these visitors like to shop and have found post Brexit London great value, the pound's depreciation remaining more than 15% below its peak in late 2015. And so London's Oriental rug and carpet dealers are seeing a upward movement in export sales, and now the US embargo has been lifted, particularly to the US. David J.Wilkins Oriental rug experts has seen increased sales to the US, particularly in the high end Persian market such as Nain, Isfahan, Kashan and Tabriz. With the pound likely to remain weak for some time bargains can be found from London's Oriental rug dealers, but do your home work and chose a reputable dealer. www.orientalrugexperts.com

The Arts & Antique fair at London's Olympia 27th June-2nd July 2017 will be celebrating its 45th anniversary. showcasing 160 of the worlds leading specialist dealers, visitors will be able to see a diversity of periods and styles crossing a variety of disciplines, with over 55,000 pieces to chose from. Their will inevitable be a selection of Oriental rug and carpet dealers from the higher end of the trade, with prices to match. there will be host speakers from Leighton House Museum, TATE and the British Museum London. The second Georgian International Carpet Festival will take place 28th June-2 July 2017. On the first two days, participants will be taken to various sites in Tbilisi and the historic town of Mtskheta, before heading to the impressive Medieval fortress of Rabati in the scenic Samtkhe-Javakheti region. The event aims to increase awareness of the importance of rug production, in Georgia and beyond.

David J.Wilkins Oriental rug experts would like to inform all of there customers, both old and new of a huge new shipment of handmade Oriental rugs and carpets that has just arrived in London's Oriental Rug Centre. The shipment from Afghanistan includes some exciting new designs as well as traditional, and in sizes from 3ft x 2ft right up to 20ft x 14ft. We will be posting a selection of photos on our social media sites in the coming weeks so keep a good look out, or if you wish to see the new selection of rugs and carpets before the madding crowd, please contact David J.Wilkins on 0207 722 7608 or through there website www.orientalrugexperts.com

David J.Wilkins Oriental Rugs were once again asked to supply The Lawn at Rochford, Essex, with some beautiful Persian carpets and rugs. This Georgian mansion is a highly sought after venue for weddings and events and its elegant interior is the perfect backdrop in which to show off fine Persian rugs and carpets. www.orientalrugexperts.com

The China (Qinghai) International Carpet Exhibition will take place in Xining City from the 2nd-6th June 2017. Now in its 14th year, it is one of the largest fairs in China and the organizers are inviting International Oriental rug and carpet exhibitors and buyers to attend. The sale of the Jacques Cadry Collection of oriental carpets, manuscripts and icons at Mossgreen Auctions in Sydney on 2nd April 2017 set new records for sales in Australia. The highlight of the sale was lot 30, an all-silk Ottoman rug woven with a map of the battlefield at Gallipoli that sold for AUS $174,600 (£102,000) against an estimate of AUS $150-200,000 a record for an Oriental rug at auction in Australia. Its Ottoman Turkish inscription describes it as a gift made in 1916 to Enver Pasha, the Minister of War to commemorate the victory at Gallipoli. Ikea have teamed up with Jordan River Foundation to open production centres this summer in Jordan. The centres will employ around 100 and rising to 400 Syrian refugees and Jordanians. The emphasis will be to produce traditional crafts such as rugs, cushions and bedspreads. The Oriental Rug Centre in London is expecting new shipments from both Iran (Persia) and Afghanistan, with some exciting new rug and carpet designs promised. David J.Wilkins Oriental Rug Experts says the trade has been brisk this spring and the new shipment will boost the selection of rugs and carpets for customers to view, which is always welcomed.

The Anka Cooperative, a social enterprise in association with US rug producer woven legends, is turning to kickstarter to improve the lives of even more refugee women. The project was founded in 2012, and empowers Syrian refugees through the creation of fine carpets and traditional crafts. At the moment Anka works with 250 weavers in two camps in Turkey. The operation's mission is to empower and educate over 20,000 refugees by the year 2020. The first step towards this ambitious goal is a kickstarter campaign, where all proceeds will be used to further Anka's mission. In exchange for pledges, backers can receive gorgeous carpet coasters, framed carpet fragments, handwoven Christmas stockings, and the rugs themselves.

To celebrate the Persian New Year a special lecture by Dr Hadi Maktabi will take place on 6th April 2017 at the V&A London. One of the worlds finest collections of Persian carpets is the Imam Reza shrine in Mashad, Iran. This is of paramount historic importance, because the shrine holdings were built up over centuries through pious donations, including Safavid and Mughal carpets gifted by major patrons such as Shah Abbas I (1571-1629) and many later rulers. Nonetheless this wonderful collection of rugs and carpets remains largely unpublished. This lecture describes the recent establishment in Mashad of new museum facilities, and Dr Maktabi's role there as an adviser. His lecture will be fully illustrated, with new images of the shrine's most beautiful and historic rugs and carpets.

A major exhibition, Serenissime Trame: Carpets and Rugs and Renaissance Paintings; opens on Thursday 23rd March 2017 at the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca'd'Oro in Venice. Curated by Claudia Cremonini, Moshe Tabibnia and John Valagussa, Serenissime Trame is the first museum presentation of antique oriental rugs and carpets from the Zaleski Collection, with 25 loan examples from this important collection, probably the most complete in the world, together with three from the historic Franchetti collection, which have been conserved for permanent display in the Venetian museum. Organised by the Museum Centre of Veneto and the Tassara Foundation of Brescia, the event is a tribute to the collecting passion of Baron Giorgio Franchetti, patron and founder of the state museum of Ca'd'Oro, whose own interests included oriental rugs and carpets as part of a love of decorative arts. Imperial Threads: Motifs and Artisans from Turkey, Iran and India; the current exhibition at the Museum of Islamic art in Doha, Qatar (15th March-4th November 2017), brings a new perspective to the MIA's remarkable permanent collection by illuminating the connections between the major dynasties at the start of the early modern period in Islamic art (16th-19th century).

On 5th April 2017, Bonhams of London will launch a groundbreaking new, twice-yearly sale: Important Design. This concept brings together high-quality pieces spanning the past 500 years of Decorative Arts including Oriental rugs and carpets. From Renaissance to Art Nouveau, from East to West, each object will be carefully selected by the Bonhams team of specialists to reflect the innovative design and craftsmanship of the astonishing array of artists who flourished during this period. And representing the carpet weaving world is a very  impressive 19th century Persian Silk Tabriz carpet. www.orientalrugexperts.com

This year Baku hosts the 5th International Symposium on Azerbaijan carpets; Traditions and Innovations, running from 17th-29th October 2017. Also along side this event the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum 22nd-24th May 2017, will host the 2nd International Symposium of the Common Language of the Turkic World-Patterns. Back in London the Oriental Rug Centre has seen a busy start to the year, and along with new rugs and carpets arriving from Iran (Persia) and Afghanistan the selection is one of the best in the world. David J.Wilkins Oriental Rug Experts has found a shift in sales, back from modern abstract rugs to the finer traditional Persian carpets. It seems quality once again is taking the lead, and not before time, in the long run these customers and there families will benefit from choosing a high quality handmade Persian rug or carpet.