A Woven Tale

Billy Hayes was a 23-year-old American sentenced to five hellish years in a Turkish prison for trying to leave the country with two kilos of hash. In 1978, the thriller Midnight Express told Hayes’ story, forever giving Turkey a bad name. That same year, a German chemist named Harald Boehmer was employing his knowledge to help Turkish weavers identify the plants their ancestors used to create the dyes that give Turkish rugs such vibrant palettes. His work transformed the rug industry of Turkey and resulted in the first-ever women’s rug-weaving cooperative in the Islamic world. Tonight at 7, Boehmer gives a lecture titled “Nomads of Anatolia” in the auditorium of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College (12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park). The reception begins at 6 p.m.    

Sat., Sept. 13, 7 p.m., 2008