Turkmen leader applauds UN recognition for carpets

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


Turkmen leader applauds UN recognition for carpets
Women hold carpets at the National Carpet Museum in Ashgabat on December 16, 2019. Turkmenistan's leader on December 17 hailed as "historic" the announcement that its traditional hand-woven carpets have been recognised as global cultural heritage by the United Nations. The Central Asian country's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said it was "evidence of world recognition of our marvellous carpets" and will help promote them abroad. Igor SASIN / AFP.



ASHGABAT (AFP).- Turkmenistan's leader on Tuesday hailed as "historic" the announcement that its traditional hand-woven carpets have been recognised as global cultural heritage by the United Nations.

The Central Asian country's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said it was "evidence of world recognition of our marvellous carpets" and will help promote them abroad.

The centuries-old family tradition was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list this month.

Mediaeval Italian merchant and traveller Marco Polo is among the best-known admirers.

He wrote that "the finest and most beautiful carpets in the world are made here".

Nowadays Turkmen carpets are a permanent feature in pompous state ceremonies, whether during a railway opening in the middle of the desert or public festivities in the capital Ashgabat.

They also have their own state holiday on the last weekend in May and feature on the national flag.

Carpet weaving is championed in a book authored by all-powerful Berdymukhamedov called "Heavenly Beauty" in which he calls the carpet "an eternal hymn to life".

The national carpet museum contains more than 2,000 rugs, many from centuries past and one supersized version woven in 2001 by 40 weavers.

The 14-by-20 metre (46-by-60 feet) carpet, which weighs 1.5 tons, scored the country a Guinness World Record, although that is now held by a carpet woven in Iran.

Turkmen carpets are weaved with the wool of the locally bred Sardzhin sheep and the weavers are always women, the craft being passed through generations.

A four-square-metre carpet can take several months to make, because of the density of the carpets -- a single square metre can consist of up to 400,000 knots.

Prices for wool carpets are around $115 (103 euros) per square metre, while a silk carpet can cost double.

Typically patterns reflect nomadic tribal art and draw on the elements and various types of animals.

Despite cultural pressure on young girls to take up the tradition, there is room once they become weavers to impose something of themselves onto these future family heirlooms.

As an old Turkmen saying goes, "spread your carpet and I will read your soul".


© Agence France-Presse










Today's News

December 26, 2019

Hamburger Kunsthalle takes a sweeping look at the 18th century

The sleek curves that reshaped furniture design

Heavy hearts as Notre-Dame misses Xmas mass for first time since 1803

Not just propaganda: A new view of Soviet artists

Huis Marseille exhibits fashion photography between 1900 and 1969

The Outsider Art Fair announces its list of exhibitors for the 2020 New York edition

Exhibition honors late collector and great patron of the arts

Solo exhibition by Portuguese artist Sérgio Carronha on view at MONITOR Lisbon

The Rubin Museum appoints Noah P. Dorsky as Board President and welcomes New Chief Experience Officer

Allee Willis, 'Friends' theme and 'September' songwriter, dies at 72

Exhibition at Foam measures our progress towards new ways of seeing and being

Norwegian author and former spouse of princess dead at 47

WOHA completes Sky Green mixed-use development in Taichung, Taiwan

Whitegold International Ceramic Prize 2019 Winners Announced

In a collection of 'Peanuts' tributes, the gang is all here

Hammer Museum appoints Larry Jackson to Board of Directors

Cibrián Gallery exhibits works by Kate Newby, Nagore Amenabarro, Oscar Tuazon, and Jessica Warboys

Alexander Berggruen exhibits works by Katherine Bradford, Hulda Guzmán, and Rebecca Ness

Australian painter Jordy Kerwick's first U.S. solo exhibition on view at Anna Zorina Gallery

Multi-disciplinary designer Pauline Perrin exhibits her photographs at droog in Amsterdam

Dalton Baldwin, an eminence among accompanists, dies at 87

Yukiya Izumita continues his exploration of complex forms in new exhibition at Ippodo Gallery

Unearthing the links between Beethoven and the Vienna Philharmonic

Turkmen leader applauds UN recognition for carpets

Car cover, know the importance of using this product

How a Deep Tub Differs from a Standard Bathtub?

The Video Games Industry and The Problem of Music Licensing

How Artists Can Benefit from Online Marketing




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful