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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 Anouschka Sarafzade | Allmendina e.V.
Perhaps it is enough to know, for oneself, that our ‘doing and being’ takes shape as we weave into a tapestry with every encounter, every action and every decision. One that is greater than ourselves. Fragment #79 inspired me to give artistic expression to this idea on our farm.
I received Fragment #79 through the nomination of my dear friend and fellow artist, Waref Abu Quba. I am a German actress with Iranian roots; I grew up surrounded by Persian carpets.
My mind is a patchwork quilt: thoughts push their way to the fore and then vanish again. Perhaps it is because, as a ‘half’ Iranian, I have always tried to pick up the thread of my heritage. Yet this thread leads across borders that I have not yet been allowed to cross.
Or when trying to describe this project, when the ‘common thread’ briefly emerges, only to vanish again immediately, replaced by the feeling of being nothing more than a fragment myself.
I do not have everything under my own control. Actions are interwoven and interconnected, like a 17th-century carpet. The thread knows its direction, but not the pattern. I seek completeness and realise that it is not my actions alone that are required, but that everyone around me is weaving this, ‘my carpet’.
Fragment #79, too, bears its scars. Parts of the tapestry that were burnt by a bomb have been re-knotted with white silk. The damage has not disappeared. It has remained visible and become part of the tapestry.
High summer, sweltering. The outline of Fragment #79 is transferred onto a meadow on the 1.6-hectare Allmendina site. We cannot see what we are doing. Using lawnmowers and shears, we try to gauge where we may cut into the tall grass and what we should leave standing, so that the pattern can be clearly recognised later.
Allmendina is a place where art, culture and ecology are interwoven. Not as separate spheres, but as different threads of a shared fabric. In this way, the meadow, too, becomes an artistic material. In this fragment, it is not threads that are being woven together, but grasses and flowers. Grasshoppers are startled.
The curtain rises; the drone ascends. As the distance increases, the image becomes visible: first, the carpet fragment #79 ‘woven’ into the grass as a whole; then the plot of land itself, merely a fragment of the surrounding landscape, which in turn forms part of the Ried of the Rhine region. Boundaries dissolve; fragments come together to form a whole. With every metre of altitude, the question of what my ‘burnt patches’ might look like shifts towards the question of what we understand by ‘the whole’.
Fragment #79 speaks not only of incompleteness, but also of connection, commonality and the possibility of reconciliation.
My heartfelt thanks go to Dieter Krellmann for transferring the carpet pattern onto the site and to Waref Abu Quba for the film adaptation.
Handover of fragment #79 to Tala Chamsi
I am delighted to be part of the inspiring project CulturalxCollabs – Weaving the Future. This work has created a special space that nature is now continuing to weave. It has taken on a special significance for us and can serve as a starting point for inspiration and further collaborative artistic works that only become visible from a bird’s-eye view. Fragment #79 thus not only leaves behind an image, but opens up a space for new stories.
...and on we go...
...with Waref Abu Quba
When Fragment #79 of the historic Caucasian Dragon Carpet arrived at my studio, it felt like a beautiful collision of my art and my heritage. The Museum for Islamic Art had reached out to me after discovering my digital series, "For the Love of Carpets," where I use animation to bring woven carpets to life.
This fascination goes all the way back to my childhood in Syria, where almost every household has these beautiful carpets woven into daily life and family memories. When I was a kid, I used to spend hours staring at them, drawing the faces of superheroes and villains inspired by the shapes I saw hiding in their intricate patterns. When I moved to Germany in 2014 because of the war in Syria, one of the first things I did was buy a Persian style carpet. I needed that tactile piece of heritage to anchor me in my new home.
Holding a physical piece of the Dragon Carpet in my hands inspired me to create three new video artworks. Each one approaches the fragment differently through animation, exploring the themes of memory, repetition and reconstruction.
Fragment #79 - Video "79s"
Healing
This video is a contemplative act of digital restoration. The original 17th-century Dragon Carpet suffered severe damage during World War II. We are left with a complete black-and-white photograph from before the war, and the surviving, colorful, but destroyed fragments from after. In this time-lapse, I realigned the surviving color fragments over the pre-war archival image, utilizing AI to colorize and bridge the gaps. The result is not a claim of historical restoration, but an artistic reflection on memory, loss, and the desire to see wholeness again.
Handover of fragment #79
Now, it is time to pass the fragment onward. I have nominated my dear friend and fellow artist, Anouschka Sarafzade. We are both part of the Verein Allmendina, a collaborative community project focused on art, ecology, and sustainable living. I know Anouschka will find a profound way to weave the history of this carpet into her forward looking vision of nature and community.
The journey begins...
...with Forough & Sahar Sodoudi of the Dr & Dr Culture and Food Lab in Berlin
Fragment #79 was from the summer of 2024 until May 2025 our guest at the Dr & Dr Culture and Food Lab in Berlin. We, Sahar and Forough Sodoudi, are both scientist (Atmospheric physics and Geophysics) and after many years of teaching, research, and research management, we decided to change our lives and present our culture. The motivation behind this was that Persian culture is often hidden behind politics and religion, and its fascinating aspects are not well represented in Germany. Therefore, we left our academic positions and created the Culture and Food Lab in 2019 to share finesses of the Persian culture.
Our food lab is a vibrant space dedicated to celebrating Persian culture through authentic cuisine and cultural exchange. We strive to create meaningful experiences that highlight the richness and hospitality of Persian traditions.
Food brings people together and enables cultural exchange, therefore we offer cook events, private fine dining persian style, catering, cultural events and culinary cultural trips to Middle East.
The pictures show some of the events with fragment #79
Fragment #79 experienced a private dining and was on the drink bar, next to our Persian ingredients Sekanjebin, rose water and Egyptian willow, which are used for our special long drinks.
One of our guests made Persian Zereshk Polo (Rice including Saffron crust, topped with caramelized barberries and pistachios) during a cook event.
A group of international lawyers from a company visited us for a cultural cook event and we shared with them the story of the fragment. They cooked with us and we talked about different middle eastern cultures, as some of them spent some years in Middle East.
A table of finger food presented by Dr & Dr at Ingrid and Thomas Jochheim‘s apartment in Berlin. The apartment is filled with beautiful artworks, reflecting their passion as art collectors.
Advanced chemistry students from Eckener High School visited us for a cooking class. We explored the chemical processes involved in Persian cooking and discussed the importance of food as a cultural element. The students came from various countries, making it a truly enriching cultural exchange.
A private fine dining setting at the Dr & Dr Culture and Food Lab for the spring reception. The table is adorned with Fragment #79, fresh spring flowers, small watermelons, and delicate candlelight. Suspended birdcages above evoke themes of freedom and Middle Eastern tradition, while the brick wall behind—featuring Persian calligraphy that reads ‘Love flows here’—frames the scene with warmth and cultural depth. A celebration of Persian hospitality in full bloom.
Fragment #79 rests on our Haftsin table, the heart of the Norouz celebration at the Dr & Dr Culture and Food Lab. Norouz, the Persian New Year, marks the arrival of spring and is deeply rooted in themes of renewal and hope. The Haftsin table features at least seven symbolic items, each beginning with the letter ‘S’ in Persian—such as ‘sib’ (apple), ‘sir’ (garlic), and ‘sabzeh’ (sprouted greens)—representing health, rebirth, beauty, and prosperity. Surrounded by candles, hyacinths, and traditional elements, this table reflects both the spirit of the season and the richness of Persian cultural heritage.
An unforgettable 86th birthday celebration at the Dr & Dr Culture and Food Lab, beautifully combined with a hands-on cooking session. Surrounded by wonderful, cultivated guests with rich and valuable life experience, we shared not only Persian flavors but also meaningful conversations and cultural exchange. The presence of Fragment #79 added a symbolic layer to the gathering, reflecting our shared values of memory, hospitality, and human connection. A day filled with laughter, learning, and lasting impressions.
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.
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?
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.
