Our founder

We at reWoven continue the work of our founder, Ryan Smith, who was murdered alongside his wife Lora and their son Caleb on July 4, 2018.

Ryan founded rewoven in 2014. The project was the culmination of three of the great interests of Ryan’s life: his deep knowledge of carpets, their production and history; his love for the Azerbaijani people; and his vocation, informed by his deep Christian faith, to do good works in disadvantaged communities.

Ryan developed his love for carpets in Azerbaijan, where he lived from 2002 to 2005. It was there that he learned both the Azerbaijani language, and the language of textiles, setting up a small enterprise weaving sumakhs among the Lezghi people high in the Caucasus mountains. Changing circumstances forced him to abandon that project, but he never abandoned his passion for carpets. Returning to America, he married his wife Lora Tacquard. Soon, they returned to the Caucasus, this time to live among the Azerbaijani community of Georgia, where Lora was teaching as part of a Georgian government program.

Ryan was one of the few people to grasp the amazing textile heritage of the Azerbaijani community of Georgia, and he was the only person with the practical skills needed to revive that heritage in the modern world. Although many lovers of carpets know names like Borjalu, Karachop and Fachralo, few know that these locations, which have given their names to some of the most prized weavings of the last 200 years, were remote villages in southern Georgia. Ryan set out on an almost quixotic quest to these villages, determined to track down women who still wove carpets, who had preserved some of the folk knowledge of their grandmothers—even in an attenuated form. Ryan sought to reweave the warps and wefts of a textile tradition that has almost gone extinct.

Ryan’s tenacity, his dedication to the weavers, and his commitment to using only high quality, naturally dyed yarn and authentic patterns originating in the region, meant that within a few months he had signed up about a dozen weavers in two villages, Kosalar and Karachop, and we are proud to work with many of these weavers to this day.

Most crucially for the success of the project, Ryan structured reWoven as a social enterprise. All money from carpet sales was put back into the community. Not only were the weavers well paid, but reWoven would assist with medical bills, legal fees and give back to the community as a whole. In Kosalar, reWoven purchased new crockery and tableware for the entire village to use during communal celebrations. Ryan supported himself and his family from voluntary contributions from supporters of the project in America.

We are deeply proud to be able to continue this tradition. ReWoven is registered as a non-profit, we continue to ensure our weavers are the highest-paid in the entire Caucasus region, and we are happy to be able to offer financial support to the community in times of need.

Ryan, Lora and Caleb were taken from us in a senseless act of violence on July 4, 2018. It was a tragedy that shocked the entire country, and something that will never be forgotten. The murderer was convicted in 2019 and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

In the wake of the deaths, a small group of friends, together with Ryan’s parents, decided to try to keep his legacy alive by continuing the reWoven project. Although we can never get close to filling his shoes, we can try to continue his work. We are pleased to say that reWoven continues to provide livelihoods to women in some of the most disadvantaged communities of Georgia, and to popularize and revive the extraordinary textile traditions of this region. Our carpets have been features in the world’s leading textile publications, adorn the homes of hundreds of people from Scotland to New Zealand, and are to be found in Georgia’s best hotels. Partly inspired by us, an effort is underway to inscribe the tradition of Borjalu carpet weaving in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List. We believe that the reWoven project is the most fitting tribute to Ryan, Lora and Caleb.

To read the story of reWoven in Ryan’s words please click here.

To read a personal tribute to Ryan by reWoven’s co-director, written shortly after his death, please click here.