JAN KATH - Contemporary Rug Art

THE DESIGNER

YOU CAN BE COOL WHILE STILL KEEPING YOUR FEET WARM! WITH HIS MODERN DESIGNS, JAN KATH (BORN 1972) IS CREATING A COMPLETELY NEW PERSPECTIVE ON CARPETS. GUIDED BY A BOLD APPROACH IN HIS WORK, KATH, ORIGINALLY FROM BOCHUM, COMBINES CLASSICAL ELE - MENTS OF ORIENTAL CARPETS WITH CONTEMPORARY, MINIMALIST DESIGN.

He consciously breaks with traditional ways of seeing and throws strict rules of composition out of the window. While an entire generation once rolled up their grandmothers’ Persian rugs and exiled them from the living room, Kath’s designs are now bringing them “back to the floor.” “Nobody feels really comfortable in clinically styled apartments with highly polished concrete floors,” Kath explains. “Our carpets are an organic dotting of the ‘i’, islands of wellbeing with a healing effect in cool interiors – without destroying the overall style.” With his interpreta - tion of the modern carpet, Kath has developed an unmistakable signature that defines style and is one of the most important carpet designers on the interna - tional stage today. His concepts have earned numerous accolades, including the Red Dot award and Carpet Design Award. More and more of his work is now ap - pearing in museums that showcase art and design such as the Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art, the Beijing International Design Triennial, Art Museum Riga Bourse and the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. Kath is an autodidact. The matrix for his innovative designs is formed by a relationship to carpets with deep emo - tional roots: he is from the third generation of a family of carpet dealers who have branches in the Ruhr District and in Berlin. When he was just a young boy, he and his father, Martin Kath, used to visit manufacturers in Iran and Nepal. These ex - periences trained his eye and awakened a fundamental understanding of color combinations and proportions. At the same time, Kath never wanted to follow in the footsteps of his parents, and he never intended to continue running the busi - ness for them. In order to find his own way, he traveled through Asia and the Middle East when he was 20 years old. During this trip, he wound up, more or less accidentally, in Nepal. There, friends of his family offered him the opportunity to start working as a quality controller in their carpet production business. His “con - nection with the world of carpets” was reestablished. Later, Kath took control of the manufacturing process and began to produce his own designs. Inspired by numerous trips through vibrant world cities such as Paris, Istanbul, New York, Tokyo, Beirut, Sydney, and, last but not least, his home – the Ruhr District, with its archaic industrial culture – he quickly developed an individual signature. Although the allure created by imperfection, erosion, and transformation plays a central role in his designs, Kath is “uncompromisingly conservative” where quality is concerned.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

FAIR PAYMENT AND GOOD WORKING CONDITIONS ARE A MATTER, OF COURSE, FOR JAN KATH. TOGETHER WITH LABEL STEP, WE ARE FULLY COMMITTED TO ADHERING TO STRICT SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL STANDARDS IN THE PRODUCTION OF CARPETS.

STEP was founded as an independent non-governmental organization in 1995 by well-known aid organizations such as Bread for the World, Caritas, and Swissaid. It has an active local presence in all of the major carpet-producing countries, including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, and Turkey. Independent inspec - tors regularly visit production sites to check the working conditions. Based on current market prices, Label STEP calculates the wages re - quired by carpet weavers and other workers to cover the cost of food, health care, living, energy, clothes, and education for themselves and their families. Both STEP and JAN KATH are firmly against exploitative child labor. A system of fair trade and rigorous regulation helps to prevent child labor and also combats its causes by improving working conditions and increasing wages. It also creates prospects for young people: only when parents earn enough to secure a liveli - hood for their families, can they afford to send their children to school instead of letting them work. “I’ve lived and worked in Nepal and Mongolia for several years myself,” says Kath. He feels a close con - nection with the locals in these countries and visits the production facilities every month. “Of course, it’s a moral imperative. But it’s also in our own interest as a business to make sure that we provide the right working conditions. We set up day cares so our employees’ children don’t run around playing between the weaving stools. This gives our workers the peace and quiet they need to concentrate – many of our designs are highly intricate and difficult to create. We also want to keep the craft of weaving appealing. After all, we need a motivated skilled workforce in our factories, both for today and in the future.” To find out more, visit www.label-step.org