The DOBAG project is about a small portion of that heritage which has survived. In very select outlying villages of today, relatively little has changed in the technology of making a hand knotted rug. The shearing, carding and dyeing of wool in many ways remains unscathed by newer technology. Women still use the drop spindle for spinning and weave on the same type loom their ancestors did.

While some of these traditions were indeed lost or dwindling, they have been reclaimed and encouraged in the past 25 or 30 years. DOBAG, the Dogal Boya Arasturma ve Gelistirme Projesi - the Natural Dye Research and Development Project - is a Natural Dye Research and Development Project supervised by Marmara University in Istanbul: A cooperative dedicated to the preservation and reinforcement of local weavers to produce rugs in the manner they have for many centuries past.

Initial steps of the project stemmed from extensive research efforts by Harold Bohmer, a German chemistry teacher. With access to hundreds of antique rugs in museums and private collections, he ascertained many dyes used in samples correlated with vegetable dyes derived from plants indigenous to Turkey. Led by these findings, the next step was to bring the project to an area where age old techniques had survived: In mountainous regions of Turkey, where weaving was in some cases still done in home and a daily routine. The DOBAG project is part of encouraging these elements, and building upon them as well. There is no child labor, in fact, weavers must be over the age of 18 in order for their carpets to be part of and sold to the DOBAG cooperative. Emigration to larger cities is said to have been virtually eliminated, yet another testament to the success as tradition remains where it has for many years.

Co-op weaving is exclusively for piled rugs. Using wool from spring shearing is expected, as the wool tends to be fuller, with more luster and body. All done by hand, the wool is carded and spun, then dyed with indigenous natural dyes. Weavers choose their patterns and colors, mostly traditional tribal.

DOBAG carpets are priced according to the number of knots that they contain, thus ensuring a fair wage system. A carpet measuring 6 by 9 feet can have up to 600,000 knots and represents about 4 months of weaving, not including shearing, washing, sorting, carding, spinning and dyeing the wool, set-up time, fringe weaving and the final washing and drying.

Higher wages are paid to weavers as co-op members - and these women now
sometimes make more money than the man of the family.

Relatively few rugs are made available through the DOBAG efforts, rendering the final pieces unique and somewhat difficult to obtain. In 2003, only 350 families between some 30 villages were members of the DOBAG co-op, all monitored with strict quality control. Woven into the field of many rugs are letters or symbols to signifying the weaver and village. DOBAG rugs are also finished with a leather tag bearing the DOBAG trademark, and a lead seal and label are also affixed for purposes of identification and filing at Marmara University for documentation. To finalize the authentic process, these rugs are exclusively available through authorized dealers.

DOBAG rugs have set new standards of social, economic and aesthetic excellence. For many of us, they
are indeed the antiques of the future. DOBAG rugs not only are on display in several museums around
the world, but also found in the homes of consumers who seek to reinforce the unique efforts outlined
as the Dogal Boya Arasturma ve Gelistirme Projesi.