When Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan in 1979, something shifted in the traditional Afghani art of weaving. The engines of modern warfare were woven into carpets, and the usual depictions of fields and flowers now contained guns and tanks. “War Rugs” traces the turbulent past and present of Afghanistan through these culturally significant carpets. Starting with the Russian incursion and continuing through the American “war on terror,” the rugs reflect a country torn apart by conflict. Yet they also embody the resilience of the Afghani people amid upheaval, showing how a culture morphs and changes to adapt to different circumstances. —Alice Browne