Merit of Afghan 9/11 rugs questioned

TORONTO, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The artistic merit of hand-knotted Afghan rugs depicting aircraft hitting New York's World Trade Center towers is being questioned in Toronto.

More than 50 Afghan rugs are being auctioned through Wednesday at Ritchies Auctioneers, the Globe and Mail reported.

The towers rug, which has "Made in Afghanistan" woven into the base, had a $325 bid on it Monday night. Proceeds will go to the Textile Museum of Canada, a Museum spokeswoman said.

Consultant Danny Eisen, who lost a cousin when the first plane hit in New York in the al-Qaida terror attack, told the newspaper folk artists are entitled to create whatever they like but questioned what would happen if the roles were reversed.

"People would be mortified if piles of Afghan bodies were turned into artwork and put onto people's walls and turned into decoration," he said. "Why is the incineration of people considered an artwork?"

Duncan Blair, who heads the rugs and carpets department at Ritchies, said such violence depicted in Aghan rugs is commonplace.

"If it's a pro-bombing-of-the-World-Trade-Center rug, who is it made for?" he told the Globe and Mail. "Are al-Qaida members shopping for rugs? I don't think so."