Dragons of Karabakh
Artist
Faig Ahmed(Azerbaijan, born 1982)Azerbaijan, 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
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
Art of the Islamic WorldsObject Type
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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Unknown Transcaucasian
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 80
B.54.33
Unknown Transcaucasian
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 80
B.76.241
Unknown Transcaucasian
19th century
Wool (pile and weft) on cotton warp; symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 72
B.76.240
Unknown North African, Middle Eastern, and Near Eastern
17th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted pile
B.60.94
Unknown
early 19th century
Wool; embroidered with silk with silver and silver-gilt lamella couched over cotton
2020.55
Unknown Central Asian
c. 1700
Wool (pile, warp, and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 56
B.60.47
Unknown North African, Middle Eastern, and Near Eastern
c. 1910–1920
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted open to the left, KSPI: 266
B.70.19
Unknown North African, Middle Eastern, and Near Eastern
early 20th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 99
B.79.261
Unknown
c.1920
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 156
B.79.263
Unknown
c.1900
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted, KPSI: 156
B.79.266
Unknown North African, Middle Eastern, and Near Eastern
c. 1900
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); symmetrically knotted, KPSI: 48
B.79.268
Unknown Indian
early 20th century
Wool (pile) on cotton (warp and weft); asymmetrically knotted, KPSI: 156
B.79.278