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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...
...and on we go...
...with Lam Buu
I placed the carpet on an unidentified, bird-like stone sculpture in front of a closed shop in Hanoi. I wanted to create a quiet encounter between a textile carrying traces of craft, memory, and cultural heritage, and an anonymous object from the everyday life of the city.
For a moment, the carpet became a skin, a garment, or a shelter. It covered something whose meaning I did not fully know, and in doing so, created another meaning. Against the metal shutters, dry leaves, and pavement, the carpet became part of Hanoi’s urban landscape.
For me, cultural diversity enriches our lives through these unexpected meetings. When different materials, histories, and places touch, they do not erase each other. They create new ways of seeing, remembering, and belonging.
The journey continues...
...with Huong Dang Thi Mai
This is a visual dialogue between weathered bamboo stalks and the green shoots emerging in renewal. The coexistence of the “old” and the “new” does not suggest decay, but rather expresses a continuous cycle of birth – growth – transmission – continuation.
In Vietnamese culture, bamboo symbolizes community spirit, resilience, and an indomitable will: supple in the face of adversity, yet never yielding. Even when dry, bamboo remains useful — a quiet foundation that sustains life and supports the generations that follow.
Placed within the context of global dialogue, this image also serves as a metaphor for cultural diversity. Each culture is like a bamboo stalk, carrying its own history and values; not in opposition, but coexisting, supporting, and enriching one another. It is through differences that are respected and understood that a humane and sustainable society can truly take shape.
...and on we go...
...with Matthias Leupold
Cultural diversity as an opportunity: How different perspectives promote understanding and tolerance
When people from different cultures come together, they bring with them different values, traditions and perspectives. This broadens our horizons, promotes tolerance and helps to break down prejudices. We learn to see things from different angles. This reduces the risk of conflict and supports each individual's personal development.
Image credits
Title: INNOCENCE, Berlin, 2025
Cast: @eritaislamii
The journey begins...
...with Andrej Glusgold
I photographed the carpet fragment in my mother's garden. My mother is very old and won't be around much longer. Soon, like the blossoms in the picture, she will fall off the tree of life and leave empty spaces in the day-to-day tapestry of many people. This is natural and yet something that is hardly ever talked about.
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?
