CulturalxCollabs: Fragment No. 28 highlighted © Museum für Islamische Kunst, Heiner BüldCulturalxCollabs: Fragment No. 28 highlighted © Museum für Islamische Kunst, Heiner Büld

Cultural x Collabs: Weaving the Future

Fragment No. 28

100 Fragment Journeys

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 fragement undergoes over the course of these years...

...THE JOURNEY CONTINUES...

...with Peter Roe

The Jawbone Collective adopted as it's logo the skull of a 'Water Dragon' or Icthyosaurus... We are based in an area of world renown, Dorset's Jurassic Coast, famous for its dinosaur fossils. Within ten miles of where I sit is the town of Axminster, famous throughout the world for its carpets. The Roman Mosaics that are in our Museums are again floor coverings from a different era, many incomplete, showing the growth of civilisation and the influence of progress in the missing spaces. These are the starting points for our creatives. We hope to inspire creatives to weave words into performance and written pieces that we can share with the project and the world.




Carpet Divining

Carpets define spaces

Furniture, demands

Furniture, commands

with intrusive cabriole legs

that crush, plush fabrics

with hobnailed feet

There is no soul 

in machine made floor coverings

The poetry is in the weave

In the hands

that threaded the needle

In the hands 

that tied the knots

that ran their fingers

over the pashmina

cotton, mohair and silk

On a day we can only imagine

when the sun shone

on new silks

on bright faces

on colourful patterns

On a date we can only guess

based on paintings

by Flemish and Italian masters

who reflected hues and shapes

of warp and weft

in finite detail

In paints and oils

on a rough canvas

stretched on a wooden frame

embellished with golden edges

That hung on a wall

to define a living space

with an artistic declaration

“look at me… 

I am rich…

I own a carpet!”

In the painting

we can see the dream

but the soul is in the thread

The soul is in the plush

that you feel

between naked toes

The soul is in the pashmina

cotton, mohair, silk

The soul is in this thread

The words that we spin

The stories that we share

The soul is in seeing

the threads that bind us

to the hands that tied

the knots on a carpet

that defined a space

That thread…

That thread is divine


Peter Roe - February 2025

...AND ON WE GO...

...with Devashree Vyas

Growing up in Mumbai, India, cultural diversity has been an innate part of my life, and food has been a profound expression of this cultural diversity, no matter where life has led me. From lunch boxes of friends that told stories of their native places, to being an immigrant in Germany today and seeking both - the taste of home and the adventures of a world I am exploring, food memories are integral to my own identity. When the fragment #28 came home, it became the warmest inspiration. I sought recipes from grandparents, cooked for and with friends, even created new recipes as part of a cultural festival, and built new bonds with new neighbours, all over food. I know the fragment will leave me soon, but I am grateful I had the chance to build a new saga of food memories with it.

Food Memories

Living alone in Germany for the most part for these years, my relationship with food grew; food was not solely what I consumed, it became a linking fabric to my memories of home. 

All of these photos symbolise the time when I cooked with my grandparents and learned family recipes...

... and when I made my departed grandmother’s favourite meal, “dal dhokli”







When my mother-in-law taught me to make a traditional recipe from Odisha, India




... and when we collaborated for food prep and then diverged to create different meals altogether




When we celebrated nine days of the Indian festival of Navratri (translations: nine nights)

... developing nine new recipes for cake, one for in each colour symbolizing the nine nights, the nine Matas.


Navratri (Part II)





And, now, when this little fragment inspired collaborations outside of my immediate family;

...Sholeh Zard from my Iranian neighbour and Seb Kheer from me.







The journey begins...

...with Krishnakumar Rana of Cottbusbeats


Indian fusion dance in Cottbus

For me, dance transcends borders.

Collaborating with people and music from diverse cultures and experimenting with dance styles from around the world, makes me feel deeply connected to the richness of our shared experiences.
Passion fuels every step, and our movement to the beat and rhythm of music becomes a celebration of our collective journey.
I am forever grateful to be part of this amazing project, which gave us the opportunity to take our fusion dancing to the next level at the CulturalxCollabs opening event at the museum island in Berlin.



Cottbus Beats at Pergamon Museum!



CulturalxCollabs: Fragment No. 28 © Museum für Islamische Kunst, Heiner Büld

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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.

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?