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This fragment is part of the "CulturalxCollabs - Weaving the Future" carpet.
Through the fragment we trace the journey of the fragment owners and their collabs as they explore, experiment and creatively advance socially relevant themes. Here is the fragment as we are sending it on this three and a half-year journey.
Follow this story to observe the transformations the fragment undergoes over the course of these years...
The journey begins...
...with Lerato Rebecca Mabena
I had the pleasure of being part of a career expo in Soweto as a keynote speaker. Those who know me know how much I love interacting with students and young people. I truly believe that if we all had the opportunity to have an honest conversation about the realities and experiences of this world, many of us would be in a much better position than we are today.
I got to share my personal journey with the youth and encourage them to love themselves, their history, and their heritage — but most importantly, to understand how embracing all of that can allow them to shine in this world.
As one of the partners of CulturalxCollabs, I also had the incredible opportunity to showcase Fragment #22 of the Dragon Carpet — one of 100 pieces — to the students. I wanted them to see that if a piece of remarkable history could travel all the way from Germany to South Africa to be shared and experienced by them, then they too can go anywhere in the world, achieve anything they dream of, and be a success. They just need to believe in themselves.
Overall, it was a wonderful day filled with engagement and learning. A heartfelt thank you to TMG and CulturalxCollabs.
Front and Back
About the Project
The Museum for Islamic Art's project, #CulturalxCollabs - Weaving the future, celebrates the transformative power of cultural exchange and the shared threads that unite us all. All the things we love, have loved and will ever love come from cultural exchange, migration and diversity, or as we like to call it #CulturalxCollabs.
100 carpet fragments, cut from a replica of the iconic dragon carpet, will travel the world (delivered by DHL). The fragments will ignite #CulturalxCollabs with co-creators, inspiring human ingenuity, fostering community and ultimately demonstrating how cultural exchange enriches all our lives.
Follow #CulturalxCollabs on Instagram as the project unfolds...
...or learn more here
Weaving the Future
Join us on a journey with 100 carpet fragments as they travel around the world for three and a half years, finding temporary homes while bridging cultural boundaries, fostering worldwide community united by the power of human stories.
Fragment Journeys
100 carpet fragments part of the "CulturalxCollabs - Weaving the Future" project. Follow their journeys through the ever changing owners' over three and a half years.
Creating a carpet
A 17th-century Caucasian carpet, burned by an incendiary bomb during the Second World War, serves as the model for a replica, woven in 2022 by a family in Rajasthan, India. Over 2.3 million knots later, it is being sent out into the world in 100 fragments. This is the story of how it came to be.
Where is the Dragon?
The star of the "CulturalxCollabs - Weaving the Future" project is a so-called Caucasian dragon carpet from the 17th century. A dragon carpet - all well and good - but: where is the dragon?
