Ancient craft to improve national economy

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's enchanting and vivid carpets can re-enter the world markets soon as there are plans to expand carpet production indutry in the country.

Beauty and quality of the national carpets, known as a symbol of Azerbaijan, has praised many since ancient times. Representing a fantastic mixture of natural colors, reflecing the blue sky and green forests, dense shadows and the whiteness of snow on the slopes of the mountains, the national carpets are a desired ware for many houses.

The magically designed carpets absorb the ruby brightness of pomegranate seeds and the golden glow of quince, copper of saffron and lilac tints of grapes.

Azerbaijan used to export hand-made oriental silk and wool rugs to many countries and they still decorate many famous museums and private collections.    

Historically, Azerbaijani carpets have been popular worldwide. The rich historical contribution to the development of the national carpet made by the carpets schools of Ganja, Karabakh, Guba, Shirvan, Absheron, Gazakh, and Tabriz, have left Azerbaijan with a profound history in carpet weaving.

And each school has different patterns and color palette.

Although carpet weaving remains a favorite handcrafting in regions, Azerbaijan has to import cheaper carpets from other countries due to low output.

MP Musa Guliyev proposes to increase the production of this ancient craft rather than importing them from China and Dubai.

He believes that the country should start with reactivating the carpet-weaving mill and textile factory in Ganja, which activity has been suspended years ago.

The MP said that the resumption of the activity of this plant, as well as weaving factory, would help to reduce the outflow of currency from the country.

"The development of light industry, of course, is one of the main areas of the economy. Ganja has the potential to support the development of economy and increase revenues [of state budget]. Once, a carpet weaving factory operated in Ganja, which employed more than 3,000 people. Every year the plant produced 2.5 million square meters of carpets," he said.

Guliyev emphasized that the country will be able to provide an additional 3,000 new jobs, adding that it would be good to provide financial support to these enterprises.

History of Eastern beauty

Arab historians described with surprise the unusual rugs, woven with gold and silver threads and decorated with precious stones. English travelers admired the quality of carpet dyes used by Azerbaijani weavers. European artists from different eras “decorated" their paintings with Azerbaijani carpets, with Hans Holden the Younger and Hans Mumbling being among them.

Over many centuries, a carpet has been not only an accessory, but also a necessity for Azerbaijani people. In ancient times, no man married a girl, who could not weave a carpet. Families used to buy carpets as main part of their girls' dowry.

The country’s life has been closely related with carpets, as people lay them on the floor or hang them on the walls or sew with them clothes for themselves and blankets for their horses.

When someone wanted to give a big present to others, carpets were considered as an ideal option. Carpets were also used as taxes or tribute, and rulers took carpets as tax with great pleasure. In a nutshell, a man’s wealth was defined by the number of carpets he had.

Carpet as Art

Azerbaijan is a leading country in the world in the field of carpet art. In 2010, the traditional art of Azerbaijani carpets was entered into the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Majestic Azerbaijani rugs are the honorary "residents" at the White House, State Department. National carpets are displayed in the world's most prestigious museums as Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Louvre, Victoria and Albert Museum, Vatican, and the Hermitage.

Azerbaijani carpets, admiring with their unusual beauty and colorfulness, increasingly become to attract attention.

To preserve this tradition the country aims to open ten carpet production enterprises. 

The process is expected to start in the first half of 2017, according to the Economy Ministry, while the preparation of the State Program of the Development of Carpet Weaving Craft is over.

Experts say the realization of the state program will allow presenting the world production of new Azerbaijani kilims and carpets.