Baku, 13 January 2023 (TDI): One of the most iconic pieces of contemporary architecture in Baku, Azerbaijan is the Carpet Museum. It is located on Seaside Boulevard.
The striking structure, shaped like a carpet rolled up, was created by Austrian architect Franz Janz and opened in 2014.
The museum was founded in 1967 with the goal of studying and displaying the ancient carpet-weaving tradition of Azerbaijan, which was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
Carpet weaving is still a family tradition passed down orally through the generations in some rural areas of the nation. It houses the largest collection of Azerbaijani carpets in the world, numbering over 6,000.
The majority of the pieces on display are from the 17th to the 20th centuries, and they are arranged by style and region.
The visitors can learn about Azerbaijan’s 7 regional carpet weaving schools as they peruse them and discover the significance of the plethora of designs, which are a reflection of local culture, nature, and beliefs.
Visitors can learn about Azerbaijan’s 7 regional carpet-weaving schoolsAside from that, the museum also has a huge selection of handmade crafts and carpet products on display. There are seven different categories to look through in total.
These include pile carpets, flat-woven carpets, carpet accessories, artistic metalwork, ceramics, glass, wood, paper, textiles, costume and embroidery, and jewelry.
The museum also has a huge selection of handmade craftsAlso read: Culture: A key feature to enhance ties between Pakistan & Azerbaijan
Additionally, the visitors can learn about the renowned Azerbaijani carpet designer Latif Karimov, watch live demonstrations of how Azerbaijani carpets are made, along with buying souvenirs in the gift shop.
Carpet making in Azerbaijan
Women in Azerbaijan weave rugs in the winter from sheep’s wool that has been naturally dyed. These are carpets, not kilims, so they are created by knotting threads to a foundation warp in a complex paint-by-numbers pattern.
The knotted threads ought to be tightly compressed before being cut because the carpets have a very short pile.
