Country's carpet weaving highlighted at conference [PHOTO]

15 November 2019 20:41 (UTC+04:00)

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By Laman Ismayilova

A conference "Museums, Textile Collections and Prospects for Mutual Cooperation" has solemnly opened in the National Carpet Museum.

The conference brought together experts from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Italy, Georgia, Serbia, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Argentina and Thailand.

The conference features reports from 39 participants, covering such topics as textile museums in the digital world, innovative methods of working with textile collections, project management, storage of exhibits in textile museums and working with visitors and so on.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Shirin Melikova, director of the National Carpet Museum said that conference marks the birthday of Latif Karimov, founder of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and the inscription of the Azerbaijan traditional carpet weaving art in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In his speech, Azerbaijan's First Deputy Minister of Culture Vagif Aliyev emphasized the great importance of the conference in the country's cultural heritage.

Vagif Aliyev spoke about the role of national artist Latif Karimov in the development of carpet art. He stressed that the carpet is a national treasure of the Azerbaijani people, which has been preserved and passed on from generation to generation.

The construction of the museum's building is the result of attention of the President Ilham Aliyev for national culture.

Latvian designer Evita Smanuhina presented "Frozen Dreams" fashion collection in the framework of cooperation between the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and the Embassy of Latvia in Azerbaijan.

Latvian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dainis Garancs spoke about cultural cooperation between the two countries, emphasizing that such events contribute to strengthening ties.

Also, the guests of the event viewed exhibition "Silk Stories" dedicated to the Uzbek technology of silk weaving called "ikat".

The exposition displayed ancient ikat and traditional clothes, suzanne (embroidered carpets) and other types of interior embroidery, as well as pile carpets and a collection of silk and cotton textile dolls - replicas of the Russian Ethnographic Museum's exhibits.

Along with this, there was a presentation of the book "Azerbaijan Carpet Museum", published on the occasion of the museum's 50th anniversary.

The conference "Museums, Textile Collections and Prospects for Mutual Cooperation" will last until November 17.

The event is co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, National Carpet Museum and the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States (IFES).

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova