Carpet Museum to mark birthday of eminent artist

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova 

Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum will host the opening of the exhibition Kamil Aliyev: Artist and Time on October 21.

The event marks the 100th birth anniversary of  People's  Artist Kamil Aliyev, known as talented carpet artist, author of numerous samples of Azerbaijani carpet.

The exhibition will feature 18 carpets from the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum's collection, 3 carpets from the collection of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, and 3 carpets and 5 sketches from the artist’s family archive.

Kamil Aliyev creatively transformed the classical carpet compositions and designed the ornaments not only for carpets but also for different types of textiles, including ceramic.

However, it was the portrait carpets that brought him worldwide fame. Kamil Aliyev managed to grow this genre into a whole direction in carpet weaving, which is still in demand today.

During his long and creative life, Kamil Aliyev designed a wide variety of portrait carpets using different carpet weaving methods to portray the images of artists and political leaders: world-famous poets Nizami Ganjavi, Imadaddin Nasimi, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, Shota Rustaveli, Rabindranath Tagore, politicians Heydar Aliyev, Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Indira Gandhi, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ruhollah Khomeini.

The artist held solo exhibitions not only in Azerbaijan but also in Paris, London, Tokyo, Delhi, Ankara, Istanbul, Tehran, Moscow, and Kyiv. His carpets are preserved in world-famous museums and private collections.

The exhibition, organized by the  Culture Ministry and the Carpet Museum, runs until November 21.