Space is limited • Advance RSVP Required
On Sunday, September 27, 2026, Nazmiyal Collection will welcome the Hajji Baba Club to its New York gallery for Collectors in Conversation, an intimate educational evening devoted to antique rugs, textiles, and the collecting experience.
The discussion will bring together Bruce Baganz, Mary Jo Otsea, and Mike Tschebull, three experienced voices in the field, for a conversation about what it means to collect and understand historic rugs and textiles.
Learning to Look
One fascinating thing about antique rugs is that knowledge rarely comes from books alone. It develops through years of looking, handling, comparing, questioning, and the occasional mistake. Experienced collectors begin to recognize qualities that are difficult to explain through age, origin, or price alone.
Learning what gives a rug presence, what separates a rare rug from a uniquely important one, or how collectors develop the confidence to trust their own eye are all the kinds of questions that make conversations among experienced collectors so valuable.
Collectors in Conversation
Rather than a traditional lecture, the September 27 program is designed to foster a genuine exchange of experiences and ideas between collectors, experts, and enthusiasts alike.
The panel will discuss collecting, connoisseurship, and the lessons that come from years of studying antique rugs and textiles. For both established collectors and those beginning to explore the field, hearing how experienced collectors think can reveal what catalog descriptions and auction results cannot.
Nazmiyal and the Importance of Rug Scholarship
For more than four decades, Nazmiyal Collection has worked with collectors, scholars, museums, designers, and institutions around the world.
During that time, we have always believed that dealing in important rugs carries another responsibility: preserving and expanding the knowledge surrounding them. Scholarship gives objects context, while conversations give that same scholarship a new life.
Some of the most memorable discoveries in this field begin with a gathering of knowledgeable people all in conversation with one another over a specific piece. Different eyes notice different things, offering fresh and diverse perspectives on factors such as structure, color, drawing, condition, rarity, provenance, or relationships to other examples.
That spirit is at the heart of Collectors in Conversation.
Event Information
Collectors in Conversation
Sunday, September 27, 2026
5:00-7:00 PM
Hosted at Nazmiyal Collection, New York City, with the Hajji Baba Club
Featuring Bruce Baganz, Mary Jo Otsea, and Mike Tschebull
“We look forward to welcoming fellow collectors, scholars, and lovers of antique rugs and textiles for an evening devoted to something that has always been central to this field: looking, learning, and sharing knowledge.” — Jason Nazmiyal • Founder of Nazmiyal Collection
