Mystery of one carpet: a new approach to museum exhibits

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Nowadays many artists are transforming their art pieces leveraging powerful technology.

New technology enhances the museum visitors interest in the exhibits and gives a new insight into art and history.

Mystery of Karabakh Carpet

The Carpet Museum has presented a unique project  "The Mystery of One Carpet: A New Approach to Museum Exhibits".

This is one of the six projects included in Jahangir Selimkhanov's program "Cultural Horizons", a well-known art manager and art critic.

A video installation of the 18th century Karabakh carpet was presented  as part of the project.

Speaking about the project, the curator told Konul Rafieva Trend Life that many leading museums use modern technologies to present museum exhibits.

"In Azerbaijan, this approach is quite new, since information technologies in museum business have gained momentum in recent years. This creative way enlivens the museum collection so familiar to the viewers," she said.

Rafieva noted that the museum is not only a place for preserving valuable exhibits, their conservation and education, but also a space where people communicate and learn more about the history, art, and science.

"Thanks to modern technologies that have become so firmly established in our lives, we have the opportunity, for example, to see the 18th century Karabakh carpet  in a digital format, and understand what carpet designers wanted to tell us. While working on carpet installation, we had noticed that there is asymmetry. The project allows both the audience and specialists to take a fresh look at the carpet weaving art...," said Rafieva.

In her speech at the event, the Carpet Museum director, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History, Honored Cultural Shirin Malikova congratulated the project authors. She

"When the choice arose - on the basis of which exhibit to create a video installation, I decided that it should be a unique the 18th Karabakh carpet, one of the most valuable exhibits in the museum collection. This carpet has a very interesting history.The carpet dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, and belongs to the latest samples of the Ajdaha (Dragon) carpets," said Malikova.

She pointed out that for many years this carpet was in the possession of an Armenian collector, then it was sold at an auction. Furthermore, the carpet was kept by the Italian collection for more than 15 years.

"It was very important for us to return this carpet. And for several years the museum has been working on this. The 18th Karabakh Carpet was returned to us during the 44-day Patriotic War. The carpet returned to the homeland thanks to one Azerbaijani philanthropist," she said.

Honored Art Worker Jahangir Selimkhanov said that the program "Cultural Horizons" included six projects.

"The project curator Konul Rafieva has proposed a new look at the museum exposition within the project. The video installation was created by Timur Amirkhanov. While working on the installation, I met with Timur Amirkhanov, whom I have known for a long time, not only a designer, but also a true artist. The video installation is accompanied by the composition "Mugham+" from the new album "vIBrant" by electronic music producer and tar performer Ibraghm Babayev," Selimkhanov said.

The project "The Mystery of the Carpet: A New Approach to Museum Exhibits" is part of the "Cultural Horizons" educational program intended for cultural and artistic figures and funded by the International Fund for Assistance to Cultural and Educational Organizations of the German Foreign Ministry, the Goethe Institute and other organizations.