Azerbaijan Carpet Museum

The tradition & historical record

Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Milli Xalça Muzeyi, formerly called the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum) is a museum located in Baku that displays Azerbaijani carpets and rugs with historical and modern weaving techniques and materials. It has the largest collection of Azerbaijani carpets in the world. First opened on Neftchiler Avenue in 1967, it moved to a new building in the Baku seafront park in 2014. ¹

The museum was established in 1967 and was initially located in the Juma Mosque in Icheri Sheher. The mosque was built in the 15th century and renovated in the 19th century. Its first exhibition was held in 1972. In 1992, after the collapse of USSR, the museum was moved to the second floor of what is now the Baku Museum Center, a building that had originally been the Lenin museum. The collection was named in honour of the carpet designer Latif Karimov. Plans to move the collection to a new purpose-built building began in 2010, and a new building was due to open in late 2012 with a visit being made by President Ilham Aliyev in September 2013. The museum opened on 26 August 2014, as the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, dropping its much longer official title. ¹

The main objectives of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum are to collect, preserve, research, demonstrate, and promote unique samples of carpet art, which is the national heritage of Azerbaijan. ¹

Since 1967, with the support of the country's leadership, the museum has regularly had the opportunity to expand its collection by purchasing handicraft samples from the population, folk industry, and the Azerkhalcha Scientific and Creative Production Association. It was during those years that some examples, considered masterpieces of Azerbaijani carpet art, were acquired for the museum. Thanks to the support of state officials and primarily National Leader Heydar Aliyev, a budget was allocated from the state treasury immediately after the establishment of the museum for the purchase of exhibits and the organization of expeditions to the regions. This work was led by Latif Karimov. Leading scholars of the country took part in the collection and further development of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum’s collections: Rasim Afandiyev, Honored Art Worker and the museum’s first director Aziz Aliyev, Doctor of Historical Sciences Hasan Guliyev, Candidate of Art History Najiba Abdullayeva, Doctors of Art History, professors Roya Taghiyeva and Kubra Aliyeva. On the instructions of the museum management, with the help of scholars, ancient carpets, carpet products, embroidery, samples of artistic metalwork, traditional costumes, etc., were acquired from the population. The Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences regularly provided the museum with various finds made of ceramic, bronze, and bone, as well as jewelry from ancient times. Over time, the museum’s collections were also enriched with works by contemporary artists. ¹

Today, the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum is one of the most visited cultural institutions of Azerbaijan. During 2016, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum had approximately 60.000 visitors; in 2017, the number of visitors exceeded 85.000. In 2018, the number of visitors reached 110.000. The year of 2019 marked many significant events for Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum. Firstly, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum had 122.143 visitors, thus breaking its own record and becoming the country’s most visited museum. One of the major milestones of 2019 was the launch of inclusive initiatives at Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum. This means that the persons with disabilities can also visit the museum and explore its exposition. Information on the inclusive programs of ANCM has been presented to international museum organizations such as ICOM and NEMO. From the beginning of 2019, the employees of the Traditional Technologies Department and the Children’s Museum Department of Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum regularly conduct master-classes for the persons with disabilities. All descriptive texts in the exposition are also provided in Braille for visually impaired persons. Moreover, the employees of the Traditional Technologies Department of the museum made the carpet samples, which combine the pile and flat weaving techniques. These samples allow the visually impaired persons to tactilely feel shapes of traditional carpet ornaments. In 2020, the museum presented the virtual exposition provided with the sign language interpretation for the persons with hearing impairments. Also, the visitors can have a tour guided by sign language interpreter. The museum also ensures accessibility for wheelchair users. ¹

On 16 November 2017, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum and the anniversary of Latif Karimov’s birth, the exhibition New Pearls of the Collection was opened at the museum. On this occasion, a round table entitled "Textile Collections in Museums" was also held, with the participation of staff members from more than twenty regional history and local lore museums, as well as museums of the capital. In addition, a tour entitled "Introducing the Collections and the Conservation and Restoration Department of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum" was organized for representatives of museums and public associations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. By the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 15, 2019, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum was granted the status of National for its exceptional services in the field of protection and promotion of the carpet art of our country. In November 2022, an event was held dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, the first carpet museum in the world. An artistic embroidery dating back to the early 18th century and two pairs of earrings dating to the second half of the 20th century were presented. In August 2024, the event Contemporary Space for an Ancient Art was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the museum’s new building. The event was held with the joint organization of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum. A video project, Carpet for Me is..., created with the participation of figures of art and culture, was presented to the guests. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Azerbaijan Carpet Museum”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum is art museum, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

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