Nakhchivan carpets, bearer of national culture

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Published on Thursday, 26 October 2017 11:45

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The Nakhchivan State Carpet Museum is one of the places to preserve and promote our old and rich cultural examples. We have recently visited the museum and got acquainted with the carpet and folk applied art examples, the bearer of the national culture of the Azerbaijani people.

The guide Saadat Valiyeva gave detailed information about the museum. She noted that the Nakhchivan State Carpet Museum has been operating since April 1998. There are over 3,000 exhibits in the museum. More than 300 exhibits are exhibited in the exposition of the museum today. These include, first of all, carpets, carpet making tools, tools and household utensils used by people in ancient times for weaving. The carpet samples of the XVIII-XIX centuries belonging to Tabriz-Nakhchivan, Ganja-Gazakh, Guba, Shirvan, Garabagh carpet-weaving schools are also kept in the museum. Nakhchivan carpets were weaved in most settlements of our ancient land.

The carpet, which is dedicated to national leader Heydar Aliyev weaved by the “Azer-Ilma” carpet workshop in Baku in 2006, attracts attention in the museum. According to the technique of weaving, carpets are divided into two groups- piled and unpiled carpets. Unpiled carpets are weaved by simple methods such as winding, padding, knotting. Patterns on unpiled carpets are relatively simple compared to piled carpets and are easier to work with. The piled carpets are weaved by a more complicated method. In this case, the complicated noose, gulabi noose and complex form of winding noose are used. The patterns on it are more complicated than other carpets. The Azerbaijani carpets are famous for their pile all over the world.

At the beginning of the exposition, unpiled carpet type felt which is related to the early period is exhibited. In ancient times, it was made from water and wool. The feature that distinguished it from other carpets was the fact that the felt was not weaved but beaten. Felt was mainly used on the floor, but later used in the preparation of women and men’s clothing. Tradition of felting is preserved in modern times. In 2013, Nakhchivan Regional Profession Training Center’s curriculum graduates prepared modern felt samples.

There are 8 types of unpiled carpets. One of them is chatan. It is also known by the name of the bast mat. Bast mat was made from cane leaves and grass called “jighali”. It was used to remove the humidity under carpets in the houses. It is a type of carpet used in more mountainous regions. The chatan carpet type exhibiting in the Carpet Museum belongs to Nehram village of Babek district.

According to Saadat khanum, Nakhchivan carpets are exhibited in Turkey and other foreign countries under the name of Azerbaijani carpet, Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Victoria and Albert museums in England.

The famous “Sheikh-Safi” carpet, which is over 2,500 years old, is now exhibited as the Azerbaijani carpet at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

One type of unpiled carpets is palaz. It is weaved in small parts, then combined. Unlike other carpets, palaz distinguished for its simple weaving belongs to the first stage of carpet weaving. There is no pattern on palaz and chechim carpet types. Because of it is easy to carry and use, these types of carpets can be found in many homes.

One type of unpiled carpets is kilim. Kilim is the carpet type of the second stage of carpet weaving. Before, pattern was not used in kilims. Later on, kilims with stamps, checkers, rooster eyes, and draped patterns began to appear.

Zili is also an  unpiled carpet type. The weaving technique differentiates it from other carpets. The ornaments on it are of special significance. For example, square shaped figures resemble the area of the house, and the diamond-shaped figures resemble like a woman, a woman’s life. Generally, depending on color or pattern it is used in different places - in religious ceremonies, mourning and wedding ceremonies.

In the museum also carpet weaving products-saddle-bags, salt sacks, holdalls and heybes used as boxes by the people who had nomadic life in ancient times, carrying carpets, palazs, everyday clothes in them, as well as girls’ dowry are exhibited. A part of the saddle-bags are weaved as a pile carpet, where more complicated patterns are used. The other part of the saddle-bag is woven in the shape of palaz and chechim as an unpiled carpet type. In ancient times, people filled their food and goods into saddle-bags. The salt sacks were weaved by the replacement of piled and unpiled carpets and were used to collect salt in it. The museum also exhibits wool-combs to clean the wool and spinning wheel to make yarn from the wool.

Now, carpets are weaved on the basis of the cheshnis (carpet projection). This method was not used in ancient times. From the XIX century carpets woven on the basis of cheshnis are divided into two parts - carpets woven in the workshops on the basis of cheshnis and carpets woven at home.

Most of the carpets woven in the houses did not use cheshnis, that is to say, the human made patterns on the carpet based on her imagination, her own way of thinking, fantasy. The first used pattern was geometric pattern embroidery. Then these patterns improved. Thereafter, people and bird images were used. In general, the Nakhchivan carpets are selected by the thickness of the loop, the thickness of the pile of the carpet surface. Due to the fact that the climate of Nakhchivan is more severe and variable, carpets belonging to this region were woven in a double loop. Ornaments on carpets are divided into four groups - geometric, anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and floral. The pattern of flower designs is called floral. All patterns represent different meanings. For example, rose was a symbol of love and paradise in ancient times. The tree illustrates the root and firmness of a family. A buta (almond shaped pattern) was depicted on a piled carpet. Buta is our national pattern, expressing meanings like fire, tears. In terms of appearance, it is likened a peacock’s quill. Different colors are used in the weaving of cogged buta   which is more common to a peacock. At the same time, bird pictures are also described on piled carpets. The bird was a symbol of the connection between heaven and earth in ancient times. It was a symbol of people’s religious beliefs.

The carpets woven by the means of modern techniques are exhibited in the museum and are clearly visible to the guests coming here. The logo of the Nakhchivan city on the carpet is being weaved in the museum in connection with the election of the capital of Islamic culture in 2018.

The Nakhchivan State Carpet Museum attracts the attention of foreign guests, along with local guests. The museum has already become a cultural center. Regular exhibitions are held here on carpet weaving, book presentations, scientific conferences are organized. All of these are of great importance in protecting our cultural heritage, our national values, and at the same time thoroughly studying and propagating our history, our culture.

Guntaj Shahmammadli

Nakhchivan State University

I course master’s degree in radio journalism

“Sharg gapisi” (the gate of the East) Newspaper

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