Next Meeting

Velvet Robe (chapan) Central Asia, Uzbekistan, 19th Century Silk velvet, 127 x 150 cm (50 x 59 in.) Arlene C. Cooper (Promised gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

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Please bring rugs or textiles from your collection to share. Three per person only please.

This meeting will be open exclusively to members of the Hajji Baba Club.

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served. Cash bar. Please stay for dinner which is available at the Salmagundi Club and can be paid for individually at the club that evening.

Please RSVP by June 5th or by voice mail: 212 457 1030.

New Members for the Board of Directors

This year, two board members have completed their full terms on the board: Elisabeth Parker and Bonnie Corwin. The club is extremely grateful to them for their years of service and looks forward to their continuing active participation as club members. Elisabeth Parker has agreed to continue one more year as our president, and Bonnie Corwin will continue as Chair of the program Committee.

Current Hajji Baba Club Board of Directors, 2022-2023
Elisabeth Parker, President
Sheila Fruman, Vice President
Karen Bennett, Secretary
Corinne Berezuk, Treasurer
George Bradley
Bonnie Corwin, Programs
Clare Frost
Tom Harris
Zach Zaman
Nominees are: Bruce Baganz and Linda Pastorino.

Bruce P. Baganz

Bruce is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Textile Museum in Washington, DC, the leading international center for the exhibition, study, collection and preservation of the textile arts. Under his leadership and direction, the museum underwent fundamental changes – financial, facilities, personnel skills, public engagement, and strategic direction – to ensure its long-term sustainability.
Additionally, he is Chairman of the Near Eastern Art Research Center, a foundation established in 1962 to promote scholarship and stewardship in Islamic rugs and textiles, a Member of the World of Islamic Arts committee at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Co-Chair of the Board of the George Washington University Museum, a Member of the Board of Visitors, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina, and a past Director of the Board of the National Trust for the Humanities (2012 – 2022) where he served as Chair of the governance committee.

He was President & CEO of Security Energy Company, concentrating on private oil and gas investments, both domestic and international. Prior to Security Energy, he was vice president, exploration & production of Global Natural Resources Inc. (formerly NYSE GNR), and previously with Shell Oil Company. He was a licensed Series 65 Investment Advisor Representative (FINRA CRD#6708153). Bruce achieved one of the petroleum industry’s public company most successful track records – ranked in the top 3 and 5 of the 94 largest companies – in discovering oil & gas at low cost, as reported by two leading independent engineering and financial analyst firms who documented his public sector results.

A recipient of both the George Hewitt Myers Award and the Joseph V. McMullan Award for Stewardship and Scholarship in Islamic Rugs and Textiles, Bruce is an internationally known collector of antique rugs and textiles from the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Presently, he is concentrating on research and publications on textile art collections on topics ranging from Central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire. These publications include writing and editing a landmark publication on Central Asian antique embroidered textiles known as suzanis.
Bruce is married to Olive W. (“Terry”) Baganz for 40 years. Bruce and Terry maintain residences in Houston, TX and Washington, DC.

Linda Pastorino

Linda is the owner of Singkiang, a “Neo-Bohemian Traditionalist” lifestyle brand focused on the creation of exotic interiors, gardens and bespoke home furnishings and fashion, whilst purveying rare ethnographic and Asian antiques. She is a curator of special collections belonging to private clients and also advises museums and institutions on their collections and is currently the associate curator of Project Space Gallery in Luang Prabang Lao. She conducts appraisals for institutions and individuals specializing in Ethnographic jewelry, costumes, Tribal and Asian art. She is an exhibitor for antique shows in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe and on numerous vetting committees for Ethnographic jewelry, costume, Tribal and Asian art.

Linda has travelled extensively in China, India, Nepal, Africa and Europe and has lectured widely, most notably for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her publications include articles in Antique and Arts Monthly and Arts and Auctions. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Illustrations and Ceramics. A long-time collector in this field, she lives in New Jersey where she also enjoys gardening and creative projects.

We would like to welcome new members who have joined since June 2022

Michele Hopkins, Washington, DC
Tracy Davis, Northfield, MN
Nora Smids, Ellensburg, WA
Dorothy Raphaely, Miami, FL
Lloyd and Susan Kanneber, Weston, MA
Jonathan and Dale Gluckman, Los Angeles, CA
Megan Walker, San Antonio, TX
Judith and James Humphries, Foresters Falls, Ontario, Canada
Anne Bilson, Mosman, New South Wales
Solmaz Shaghloo, Student
Sharon Litchman,
Corinna Ventura, Milan, Italy
Moshe Tabibnia, Milan, Italy
Jay Jones, Albany, CA
Sidney and Barbara Coon, Tucson, AZ
Christoph and Karin Huber, Luzern, SW
Patricia Atwood, Hanover, NH
Nathalie Farman-Farma, London, UK
Jonathan Rendell, New York, NY
Aaron Zuckerman and Asieh Hekmat, Chile
John Robbins and Christopher Gaillard, New York, NY
Alexandra Sacharuk, Brooklyn, NY
Emilie Iriving, New York, NY
Nathan Ursch and Brin Reinhardt, Brooklyn, NY
Shahyan Dastur, Dubai
Sophia Powers and Line Martin, New York, NY