Faig Ahmed
Dragons of Karabakh

Dragons of Karabakh

© 2021 Courtesy Faig Ahmed and Sapar Contemporary

Dragons of Karabakh
Dragons of Karabakh
ArtistAzerbaijan, born 1982
CultureAzerbaijani
Titles
  • Dragons of Karabakh
Date2021
MediumCotton warp and weft, wool pile; symmetrical knot
Dimensions99 1/2 × 127 3/4 × 84 3/4 in. (252.7 × 324.5 × 215.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the 2023 Art of the Islamic Worlds Gala
Object number2023.109
Non exposé

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Object Type
DescriptionSeamlessly interweaving traditional patterns and techniques with modern forms, Faig Ahmed draws on centuries of Caucasian carpet-making
to create contemporary sculptural art. Designed on a computer but hand-woven solely by women using traditional vegetal dyes, this carpet references 17th-century dragon carpets. The carpet’s classic stylized dragons, geometric medallions, and vegetal forms melt into abstracted lines of color as the carpet morphs into a liquid-like puddle. Ahmed’s captivating visual and conceptual deconstruction plays on the tension between cultural memory and continuity and the mutability of tradition and history.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Sapar Contemporary Gallery, New York, 2022]; purchased by MFAH, 2023.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Kuba Carpet Fragment
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 80
B.76.241
Kuba Carpet Fragment
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 72
B.76.240
Kuba Carpet
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 80
B.54.33
Carpet
17th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted pile
B.60.94
Cover (Bohça)
early 19th century
Wool; embroidered with silk with silver and silver-gilt lamella couched over cotton
2020.55
Dragon Carpet
c. 1700
Wool (pile, warp, and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 56
B.60.47
Lavar Kerman Carpet
mid- 19th–late 19th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted, KPSI: 224
B.69.535
scan from file photograph
c. 1850–1875
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted open to the left, KSPI: 266
B.75.48
Kerman Carpet
c. 1910–1920
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted open to the left, KSPI: 266
B.70.19
Runner
early 20th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 99
B.79.261
Indo-Kerman runner
c.1920
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 156
B.79.263
Kerman Rug
c.1900
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted, KPSI: 156
B.79.266