Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Director of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, Chairperson of the National Committee of the ICOM Azerbaijan, Honored Culture Worker Shirin Melikova shared 2018 successes with Trend Life.

"We have a lot to talk about, because this year the activity of the museum has entered a new stage, first of all, attendance rates are steadily increasing. If in 2016 the Azerbaijani carpet museum was visited by about 60,000 people, and last year more than 85,000, in 2018 the number of visitors approached 110,000," said Melikova.

The fund of the museum, all its collections is constantly being replenished.

"In 2018, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation presented our museum with rare carpets of the 17th century - "Khatai" (dragon carpet) and "Nakhchivan", which became one of our most valuable exhibits, and the Italian collector Mirko Kattai presented our museum with a beautiful Guba carpet "Hajigaib" of the 19th century. In addition, our collection by purchase was replenished with two more 19th century carpets returned to their homeland from abroad - these are the Gurt-Chichi Guba carpet and the Khilya-buta Baku rug," she said.

One of the activities of any museum is the organization and holding of exhibitions.

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum held a whole range of exhibitions, both in the country and abroad.

Among them are exhibitions in the museum itself: carpets of Baku group, portrait carpets of Tahir Salahov, old kelaghai as well as foreign exhibition projects: Carpet-Plane in Vienna, "Seven Beauties" exhibition in Moscow, participation of the museum in Qinghai the exhibition in China and other projects.

This year, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum has strengthened business ties with foreign museums, such as the Topkapi Palace Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art, and the Russian Ethnographic Museum.

The museum staff took part in scientific conferences in India, Georgia, U.S., China.

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum is not only an exhibition ground, but also a forum for scientific debates.

In 2018, two major international events took place here. One of them was the conference "Decorative Art and Interior" of two international committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). Another is the 3rd International Symposium of Common Languages of Turkic World. The program of the three-day symposium included a conference, thematic exhibitions, master classes, fashion shows and fairs.

The event gathered more than 80 participants from 22 countries.

In the outgoing year, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum continued its tradition of training with foreign experts for professionals in various fields of the museum work and free lectures for all comers.

"The smallest visitors are not forgotten: the museum has prepared a new project for them - "Art Saturday" with excursions, games and master classes for children, as well as children's game quests (team competitions), whose programs are based on studying museum collections," said Melikova.

"I am glad to note that our works are highly appreciated not only by visitors, but also by international museum organizations. In 2018, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum was awarded the "Best Experience" award in the field of intangible cultural heritage database by the International Documentation Committee (CIDOC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). It also became a nominee for the "Best Museum of Europe - 2018" European Museum Forum, where it received a certificate for innovation in working with the public in the museum sphere. And, finally, for the second year, our museum has been honored by TripAdvisor's "quality certificate" as the best museum of the year," she concluded.

The Azerbaijan Carpet Museum was created in 1967. From 1967 to 1993, the museum was called the Azerbaijan State Museum of Carpet and Folk Applied Arts, from 1993 to 2014 - State Museum of Carpet and Applied Arts named after Latif Karimov, from 2014 to the present time the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum.

The first exposition was presented on April 26, 1972 in the building of the Juma Mosque, an architectural monument of the 19th century, located in the Icherisheher – Old City.

The museum has become a research-training and cultural-educational center where many events, such as exhibitions, international symposiums, and conferences, are held. During its 50 years of existence, the museum has organized more than 30 exhibitions in different countries throughout the world.

In 2004, a law on the Preservation and Development of Azerbaijan Carpet was enacted with the museum’s participation. The law aimed to implement the registration of Azerbaijan carpets, protect and support their development, and coordinate scientific and methodical training.

In 2010, the Azerbaijan Carpet Weaving Art was included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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

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