Today, we would like to share with you the story of the Baghchada Guller carpet of Karabakh.

 

The carpet Baghchada Gullar (Flowers in the Garden) is one of many thousands of artworks that were looted by Armenian invaders during the occupation of Karabakh and then promoted around the world as samples of their national and cultural heritage. 25 years after the occupation of Karabakh, this carpet was up for auction in Los Angeles (USA) as an ancient Armenian rug. Elshad Tahirov, one of our compatriots living in the US, bought this carpet and returned to Azerbaijan. This carpet, taken from Karabakh, traveled around the world and eventually returned to its home. The carpet embodies the essence of the native land, the quintessence of love for it, whilst a whole story is hidden its knots...

Colorful flower images decorate the carpet's black central field. There is an inscription in Azerbaijani language in the Cyrillic alphabet, which says “January 1, 1971, a gift of a mother to her son Sarvar on his birthday as a keepsake.” Stylized geometric and floral elements adorn the carpet's border. The main colors are green, red, blue, black, orange, brown, and pink.

Now, this carpet symbolizing the flower-garden finally reunited with its homeland and took its place within the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum permanent exhibition as the first exhibit returned from captivity in a foreign land.

 

Carpet Baghchada Guller. Karabakh, Azerbaijan. 1971. Warp, pile - wool; weft - cotton. Inv. No. 9476