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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 Rafael Llanos
Dragon Carpet
Artist: Rafael Llanos P. (Bogotá, Colombia)
Medium: Electroacoustic Composition
Inspiration: Ancient Caucasian Dragon Carpet Fragment #80
This work is a multidisciplinary response to the symbolic and aesthetic language found within an ancient Caucasian dragon carpet. It translates the visual complexity of traditional weaving into a visceral soundscape, exploring the tension between a physical artifact and the intangible nature of memory. By deconstructing the rug's history into a series of "sonic shards," the piece seeks to weave a bridge between the physical and the digital, the ancient and the future.
The Weaving of Sound
The sonic foundation of the composition is built from fragments of traditional Caucasian music, specifically centered around the soulful recordings of the duduk. These melodies act as the "weathered wool" of the piece—earthy, melancholic, and deeply grounded in history. Much like the individual knots of a rug, these audio fragments are layered to create a dense, vibrating texture that mirrors the rug’s shifting colors and sharp, angular motifs. The duduk’s organic breath provides a ghostly link to the past, representing a culture that still breathes through its artifacts.
However, this traditional peace is frequently interrupted by piercing, high-frequency electronic interventions. These sounds—at times resembling mythic cries or digital distortion—mirror the rug’s fragmented geometry and vibrant, clashing palette. Here, the dragon emerges not as a static image, but as a living energy. It represents the "shrapnel" of time—the sharp, sometimes aggressive transition from the ancestral past to a chaotic, high-energy future.
A Meditation on Continuity
Ultimately, the piece investigates the connection between ancestral time and a conceptual future. By connecting historical recordings with contemporary synthesis, the work invites the listener to experience the "dragon" as a timeless icon—a creature that navigates the thin line between what has been preserved and what is yet to be imagined.
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?
Cultural x Collabs Tutorial + FAQs
How can I upload my material? These and many other questions are answered here.
