Azernews.Az

National Carpet Museum has opened an exhibition "Sultan's Prayer Shirts", co-organized by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry, Baku Yunus Emre Institute, and the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Azernews reports.

The exhibition features works based on prayer shirts worn by Ottoman sultans. A total of 23 works reflecting the historical peculiarities of the Ottoman period, were created by calligrapher and PhD Mehmet Vanlioglu, light artist Ayshe Vanlioglu and their team of 16 people.

Ottoman sultans wore prayer shirts to achieve victory in wars, protect themselves from evil, as well as for healing and spiritual strength.

These shirts were decorated with ayahs and prayers embroidered with thuluth, kufic, jeli, and ruq'ah scripts, as well as with motifs bearing special meanings, such as the Gadam-I-Sharif, the seal of Suleiman, and the sword of Zulfiqar.

They were intended not only for sultans, and princes but also for children and other persons, they were perceived as a guarantee that their owner was protected by the divine.

Shirts with qasidas dedicated to the prophet Muhammad, sacred texts such as Ayatul Kursi and Muavvizeteyn have survived from the time of the Ottoman Empire to this day. Today, these shirts are part of the cultural heritage, as well as important archive documents, as well as a reference source for the newly created collection.

The exhibition curated by Ayshee Vanlioglu and Dr. Mehmet Vanlioglu will run until December 20.

Founded in 1967, the National Carpet Museum holds more than 14,000 exhibits of the finest Azerbaijani carpets.

Initiated by eminent carpet artist Latif Karimov, the museum is beautiful inside and out.

The museum's new building is designed in the form of a rolled carpet. Now, the museum hosts multiple events, including international symposiums, conferences, and various exhibitions.

In 2019, the museum received national status for its significant contribution to promoting Azerbaijani carpet weaving art.

In 2020, the Carpet Museum enriched its collection with a beautiful pile of carpets purchased by the Culture Ministry at the Sartirana Textile Show in Italy.

The 19th-century Guba carpet "Ugakh" was donated to the Carpet Museum, while the Garabagh carpet "Chelebi" enriched the collection of the museum's Shusha branch.

For four years, the Carpet Museum won the Travellers' Choice Awards. The award proves once again that the professional activity of the National Carpet Museum is highly appreciated by visitors from all over the world.