Azerbaijani Karabakh carpet adorns UN Vienna Office
By Nigar Orujova
A sample of Azerbaijan's Karabakh carpet was officially presented to the United Nation's Vienna Office on December 16.
The carpet was gifted to the organization by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his official visit to Austria in May 2013.
The carpet was placed at one of the most attracting parts of the building in a ceremony which was attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the international organizations Galib Israfilov and Director General of the United Nations Office in Vienna Yury Fedotov.
Fedotov thanked President Aliyev for the gift presented to the Vienna Office.
The office is traditionally receiving material culture objects, pictures, and sculptures from many countries.
The UN Office at Vienna established in 1980 is the third United Nations Headquarters after New York and Geneva and before Nairobi.
It performs representation and liaison functions with permanent missions to the United Nations Vienna, the host Government and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in Vienna.
Carpet-weaving art is one of the ancient crafts in Azerbaijan. For centuries, the Land of Fire has been famous for its unique carpets.
Nowadays these beautiful exponents are exhibited in many world museums from the Louvre in Paris, in the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg, in the Victoria and Albert in London, in the Textile in Washington, to the Topkapi in Istanbul, and others.
In November 2010 the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO.
There are several schools of carpet weaving in the country, which are distinguished by patterns, color palette and composition of carpets, such as Guba-Shirvan, Ganja-Gazakh, Karabakh and Tabriz carpet-making schools.
One of the most remarkable features of the Azerbaijani carpet is natural dye used to color them, which protects carpets from erosion of wool fibers. Hand-made carpet production guarantees the uniqueness of every carpet