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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 continues...
...with Meike Lohmann
The pattern of the carpet immediately reminded me of waves, which I see as very fitting for my artistic work. I am a painter and explore concepts of time and space. Unlike in (early) Islamic art, which developed magnificent patterns and ornaments, my work also incorporates figures. The boat, as a symbol of travel but also a powerful mythological object representing transition, change and new beginnings, is one of the central motifs in my current paintings. In the embroidery, the images take on a new temporal dimension which, much like memories, overlays what has been forgotten or preserves what is beautiful.
I have incorporated passages from the fragment into this embroidery to create not only a thematic but also a tactile connection.
As the process of embroidery is very slow and time-consuming, the inspiration I gained from the fragment will continue to accompany me for some time to come, even though it is already on its way to its next destination.
Work in progress
...and on we go...
...with Marisa Middleton
A gateway to another world
I spent three weeks on a health retreat with my family. Far from home, we wanted to establish new routines: learn to communicate better, get more sleep, and really unwind.
My children had hardly any toys with them – but they did have that piece of carpet.
For three weeks, it lay on the floor of the children’s bedroom, marking the entrance to a secret cave between their beds. It became a magic carpet – a threshold to another world. Sometimes they would disappear in there for a whole afternoon.
What did they do in their cave? They drew, listened to radio plays, whispered secrets to each other, had fits of laughter. But above all, it was their own space. A place where no adult could disturb them.
For three weeks, the Fragment guarded the entrance to this other world.
Then the stay was over and we had to return to our everyday lives. We’d already managed to improve a few routines.
And now the Fragment is moving on.
The journey begins...
...with Janna Sophie Delius
This little piece of carpet enjoyed a day at the Brandenburg countryside in Groß Köris with me and my Family - including hanging in the sun. We wish it safe travels to whatever its Journey will take it.
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?
