Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's National Carpet Museum has been named the country's most visited museum. 2019 was marked by many important events for the National Carpet Museum.

First of all, this cultural center broke its own record for the number of visitors, bringing their number to 122,143 last year, Trend Life reported.

In 2019, the Carpet Museum started operating as the country's first inclusive museum accessible for all to visit.

Thus, people with disabilities can visit the museum and get acquainted with the exposition. It should be noted that statements about the museum’s inclusive programs were submitted to such prestigious international museum organizations as ICOM and NEMO.

The museum's successful experience was highly appreciated by international experts and organizations such as ICOM Canada, ICOM International Committee for Museum Management (INTERCOM),NEMO and CAMOC.

In addition, several amendments were made concerning Azerbaijani exhibits at the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art.

In particular, in the information about the carpets, the place of their production was indicated Azerbaijan. A catalog of Azerbaijani carpets at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art in Istanbul was also published.

In 2019, the museum's collection was enriched with six new exhibits. Among them are two female jewelry of the Qajar era, purchased from Sotheby's Auction House.

U.S. citizens Dumas Jones and Jay Jones presented the museum with a 19th-century Gonagkend rug, while the State Customs Committee donated six valuable carpets.

Notably, these carpets were confiscated during an attempt to smuggle abroad. All of these exhibits will be presented to the public next year.

The exhibitions held by the museum last contributed to the country`s cultural life. The museum itself hosted ten exhibitions and three more were organized in Russia, China and France.

Especially worth noting is the exhibition "Azerbaijan Heritage in Louvre Museum" - the first joint project of two museums. As part of the exhibition, the Carpet Museum displayed three unique Azerbaijani carpets included into the Louvre's permanent collection.

In 2019, the museum continued to expand international relations with foreign partners. Memoranda of understanding were signed with the Ichan-Kala State Museum-Reserve, Bukhara State Art-Architectural Museum-Reserve, Ankara University, Tabriz University of Islamic Art, etc.

Last year was also notable for the fact that the museum’s activity was highly appreciated by the state - it received national status.

In addition, the museum received the" Quality Certificate of 2019" from TripAdvisor, for the third year in a row.

The National Carpet Museum is proud of its efforts to preserve and promote the national heritage and will continue to work with great returns in the future.

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

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