FREYWILLE’s Magic Carpet Collection, Inspired by Varni Carpet of Karabakh, Presented in Vienna
On January 29th, the Azerbaijani Cultural Centre in Vienna hosted the presentation of the world-famous Austrian jewellery brand FREYWILLE’s Magic Carpet collection, inspired by the patterns of Karabakh carpets.
Leyla Gasimova, Director of the Azerbaijani Cultural Centre, opened the event, expressing her satisfaction with the inspiration drawn from Azerbaijan’s national carpets, one of the country’s oldest folk art forms, for the new collection by the renowned Austrian brand. She praised the decision to showcase the collection at the Azerbaijani Cultural Center.
Rovshan Sadigbayli, Extraordinary and Plenipotentionary Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Austria, highlighted the collection as a result of successful collaboration between Azerbaijani and Austrian institutions. He emphasised the collection’s contribution to promoting Azerbaijani culture, particularly the Karabakh carpet-weaving tradition, on a global scale.
Friedrich Wille, head of FREYWILLE, highly appreciated the collaboration between the FREYWILLE and the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum. Established in 1951, FREYWILLE has partnered with several prominent museums worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Claude Monet Museum in Giverny and the State Russian Museum. FREYWILLE’s experts have created exquisite collections inspired by the works of such great artists as Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Alphonse Mucha, William Morris and Paul Gauguin.
Through this partnership with the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, FREYWILLE is using Azerbaijani carpet patterns and motifs in jewellery design for the first time.
In her speech, Director of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Amina Melikova, stated that this unique collection was prepared based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the museum she leads and FREYWILLE. She noted that the collection was first presented at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum on December 5 last year with great success. She stated that the Magic Carpet collection, created over approximately six months, was born out of special admiration and love for Azerbaijan’s national and cultural heritage: This collection, which combines our nation’s rich history with modern art and jewellery technology, was inspired by the original patterns of Karabakh’s famous flat woven Varni carpet. The main feature of this carpet is the stylised geometric dragon motifs on it. According to folk beliefs, protective dragons symbolise water, abundance and prosperity and were even considered the guardians of the home and family. Amina Melikova marked that this collection would further promote Azerbaijani carpet art to wider audiences and reaffirm the cultural and national significance of these sacred decorative elements.
Alice Tipse, one of FREYWILLE’s professional designers, noted that the samples they discovered in this unique museum were a great source of inspiration for creating the next work of art in jewellery. She evaluated the new collection as a magnificent harmony of craftsmanship, history and art. Through a presentation, she shared fascinating moments from the creation process with the guests.
The artistic part was performed by the renowned pianist Abuzar Manafzade and kamancha player Ruhulla Aziz.
Afterwards, the guests got acquainted with the Magic Carpet jewellery collection, as well as the Varni carpets from the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum’s exposition.
A special stand featured the museum’s promotional products inspired by the patterns of Varni carpet.
At the end, a lottery was held among all event participants, where three winners were presented gifts from FREYWILLE.
