From lives of difficulty, the Kochan Kurds divine beauty. They live in Turkey, one of the four main bordering countries (along with Syria, Iran and Iraq) where Kurds struggle for rights. In Anatolia, Turkish Kochan are known for exquisite textile geometrics put to utilitarian use. The “corn bag” is an extra large open container that once held the harvest (today it's a contemporary decor piece). Skilled weavers created it with a sumac Kilim technique, devised in the Caucasus to strengthen and extend the life of bags and rugs. It is a luxurious flatweave with texture achieved by hand wrapping pigmented weft threads over and under the warps, alternately four, then two. It becomes a symmetrically reinforced surface, tight yet rhythmic. The two smaller bags with necks were long deployed as spice sacks. They are both 80 years old. The double-sided saddle bag, its decorative loops well intact, is half a century old. All of these pieces, replete with saturated botanical dyes, are remarkable fusions of identity, utility and art.