The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum hosts Sultan’s Prayer Shirts exhibition

On December 6, the exhibition Sultan’s Prayer Shirts opened at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum. The exhibition, organised by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku Yunus Emre Institute and the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum features works based on prayer shirts worn by Ottoman sultans. The exhibition displays 23 works reflecting the historical pecularities of the Ottoman period, created by calligrapher and PhD Mehmet Vanlioglu, light artist Ayshe Vanlioglu and their team of 16 people.

Ottoman sultans wore prayer shirts to achieve victory in wars, protect themselves from the evil, as well as for healing and spiritual strength. These shirts were decorated with ayahs and prayers embroidered with thuluth, kufic, jeli, ruq`ah scripts, as well as with motifs bearing special meaning, such as Gadam-I-Sharif, seal of Suleiman, sword of Zulfiqar. They were intended not only for sultans, princes, but also for children and other persons, they were perceived as a guarantee that their owner was protected by the divine.

Shirts with qasidas dedicated to the prophet Muhammad, sacred texts such as Ayatul Kursi and Muavvizeteyn have survived from the time of the Ottoman Empire to this day. Today, these shirts are part of the cultural heritage, as well as important archive documents, as well as a reference source for the newly created collection.

The exhibition curated by Ayshee Vanlioglu and Dr. Mehmet Vanlioglu will run until December 20.