Massive rolled carpet-shaped building houses a decades-old Azerbaijan carpet museum, has Indian textiles from 5,000 years ago too

Baku: Over 15,000 exhibits dating back to the 17th century, Indian textiles from 5,000 years ago and to top it, a massive rolled carpet-shaped building – no wonder the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum here is a popular spot on the tourists' itinerary.

The Azerbaijani carpets were proclaimed “a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage” by UNESCO in 2010.

While the carpet museum is popular for its carpet collection dating back to the 17th century, Indian textiles from the 34th century BC are also on display at the museum, which celebrates the carpet art, its history and the legacy of this country’s carpets.

“In Azerbaijan, there is no village where carpets are not woven. The museum has the largest collection of Azerbaijan carpets available in the world. The museum takes the visitors through the journey -- right from the history of Azerbaijan through its carpets, the different colours and patterns reflect all periods of our history, our literature and folklore," Shirin Malikova, Director, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum told PTI.

Located in the heart of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, the museum was originally set up in 1967 in the Juma Mosque in the Old City district of Baku. In 1991, it was relocated to the former Lenin Museum on Neftchilar Avenue.

When the UNESCO inscription came in 2010, plans were made to recognise its continued importance and place in world culture. As a result, in 2014, it got its new home in the seaside park in the current museum building that resembles a rolled carpet. It was designed by the Austrian architect, Franz Janz, and was renamed the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum.

“It is the most visited museum in Azerbaijan. Over the decades, the museum continued to acquire carpets throughout the 1970s and 80s, and now houses over about 15,000 exhibits that include pile carpets, flat-woven carpets, and objects made out of woven materials, textiles, embroideries, metalwork, and jewellery. We have also bought exquisite pieces from auctions and personal collections,” Malikova said.

The exhibition is laid out on three floors. On the first floor of the museum, visitors can walk through a timeline of Azerbaijani carpet weaving, from simple woven mats made from reed or cane to more complex woven forms. There are also weaving tools on display like looms, wool, ropes, and carpet bags," The second floor displays the trends of the Azerbaijani carpet weaving schools. It is occupied by the pile carpets, in various groups, and shows information about collective motifs found in Azerbaijani folk art, such as buta, dragons, tree of life, different styles of crosses, and Islamic symbols.

The third floor focuses on Carpet weaving of the contemporary period and how the art has developed through the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

Latif Karimov, a prominent carpet designer, and scientist who played a role in the establishment of the museum is among the featured artists.

“Besides the exquisite collection, we also have a department of traditional technology where we weave carpets and revive old forgotten techniques. We have five carpet artists in the department and 13 weavers and one of the important programmes we do is ‘Museum Without Borders’. We also teach carpet weaving here," Malikova said.

Rena Suleymanova, who is one of the weavers at the museum, said the carpets that they weave fly off the shelves from a store inside the museum.

"Small carpets which reflect the style and are easy to carry are a hit among the tourists visiting the museum. I learnt the art of carpet weaving when I was 10 years old and have been weaving them for five decades now," she said.