QALEEN - THE RUGS
Qaleen is Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) word for rugs. So, we are delighted to present a collection of hand-made rugs (Qaleen) through our store in Calgary, Canada. Whether you are looking for genuine Persian rugs from the cities, villages, and tribes coming right from the weavers, or beautiful rug that yet is only an idea in your mind; our shop is the place where you will find these one of their kind rugs or we will manufacture it for you. We are a unique rug store as we travel to areas where oriental rugs weavers have honed their skills for centuries; this allows us to handpick the greatest pieces for our customers. We know that our customers are as unique as our rugs. That is why we put special care into helping them in selecting the special piece that will perfectly complement any room, office or home. We also know how to serve customers all over the world and are thrilled to be a part of e-commerce wing of carpet/rugs industry. So here we are in the business from Calgary, Canada, where we have our showroom in Westbrook Mall.
OUR STORIES
Qaleen Inc. was originally founded in 1984, the company has come a long way since the beginning from Lahore, Pakistan, as a rug cleaning and restoring business. Our passion for work drove us the impetus to turn handwork and inspiration into booming Antique Oriental Rugs where we are the manufacturer, wholesaler, importer and exporter of handmade carpets and rugs. Now, our online store and our showroom in Calgary, Canada have just started operating to serve the North American market. Our buyers go straight to the source where the finest rugs in the world are hand-crafted. We have been sourcing rugs for over thirty-five years and cannot wait to share them with you, from vivid sari silk to hand-knotted wool masterpieces. Over the years, we have been the premier resource for antique rugs and tapestries, with an extensive collection of classic pieces from the major weaving areas of the world. We have also recognized the excellence of early twentieth century design in rugs with a pioneering collection of Swedish and Art Deco works. We are confident enough that you will explore the new styles and colors at the best possible prices, from contemporary to tribal. In early 90’s, we introduced another dimension to the rugs industry and developed our own Custom-made rugs, the dying and whitened rugs where we could successfully apply the cutting-edge technique to cut-down the colors and achieve a specific contract level of any particular rug. Later on, our innovative technique was adopted world-wide and the rugs are now known as the Brightened & Whitened rugs. In recent years, we have expanded our line to include our extremely popular line of Plant Fiber Mats, woven in South America and South Africa, as well as Hand-Woven Fabrics based rugs, artisanal textiles from around the world.
OUR APPROACH
Our mission is to transform the lives of artisanal communities in a meaningful and sustainable way, to provide a life of happiness and dignity. Over ten million people with unmatched hand making rugs skills are living heritage. Traditional crafts symbolize human civilization's cultural identity, while each handmade product has an identity of its own. Mechanized mass manufacturing not only endangering the timeless traditional art styles but also posing dangers to the environment by employing non-renewable mechanized techniques in this industry. As a result, artisanal societies are pressured to abandon ancient family practices as they are considered 'worthless'. Therefore, our approach is to appreciate their hard-work and artistic skills which will not only encourage the love for art but to also bring happiness at their faces, in turn this will not only preserve environment but will also bring elegance of art to our customer’s homes and offices.
Rugs we deal with are:
• Hand-knotted by artisans
• 100% hand-made and hand-knotted
• Directly sourced — primarily from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkey and Iran
• Environment-friendly transported via sea in well-sealed containers directly to Canada, where they are priced, packed and sent straight to you.
OUR MISSION
All of our weavers are creatives; each possess a unique set of skills – offered their dedication and gained this expertise over time through generations. Whether a small family-run venture in the Trible area of Afghanistan of larger weaving centers in the historic cities of ancient Iran; our aim to identify them, request their possession, restore them pass the pieces of art on to you. We believe it’s not only about the rugs themselves but about the experience in making these rugs; introducing the connection to a place on the other side of the globe that energizes and breathes life into a rug and into your space. The authenticity these rugs convey is completely opposite from the machinated mass-market, mass-produced world in which we live. By selling rugs we are appreciating and encouraging art. Every purchase supports safe work environments, contributions to ending child labor, fair wages, supporting green initiatives and education for future generations. We hope you enjoy our product as much as we enjoy offering them to you!
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We consider that an art business, like ours, is not about capital only. It’s about compassion. What we believe is that services change individuals, both the source and the receiver. Each rug project that we process facilitates us to learn more about ourselves and improves us in our development as experts as well as humans. Through our projects, we bring our personal antiquity into the weaving process. We act from our traditions. From our experience, clients who share traditions with us, ingenuity, independence, originality, distinction and benevolence, receive the most benefit from our art – because we get along with each other.
Message from CEO
"As an imaginative person who’s had complexity fitting into the busy world, I have been working hard to keep the art of rug weaving and restoring alive. Beside working on my own development in this field, I want to help other artisans, entrepreneurs and non-profits in doing the same in this industry of high regard. Hand-knotted rugs are regarded as the highest quality product. We welcome you to our special collection of handmade high-end rugs from all over the world, and we hope you and your family will enjoy them as much as we do. High-quality rugs last with ease for decades, so please understand that when you buy a rug here, you buy something that your family will appreciate for years to come."