Wave Function, 2016. Image Courtesy of Faig Ahmed Studio
Faig Ahmed has exhibited across continents and already been extensively featured, but he makes a great choice for this first feature. Hailing from Baku, Azerbaijan, he graduated in 2004 from the sculpture program at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts, and showed in Azerbaijan’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale just 3 years later.
Pictured above are some of his contemporary carpet sculptures, which has become what he is best known for. However, his work transcends sculpture, and has included large-scale installations as well as performance art.
Perhaps one of the most impressive elements of Ahmed’s famous carpet sculptures are his insistence on traditional Azerbaijani weaving techniques. He works with a group of skilled weavers to produce his pieces, which have been digitally distorted on computers.
Easy access to computer programs have now created a saturation of ostentatious digital or digitally-modified works, but Ahmed’s sculptures use this not as the medium, but as a means of elevating this ancient craft. Carpet weaving has existed for centuries and already wowed many with the intricate craftsmanship and techniques passed down through generations; Ahmed maintains the delicate balance of breaking the traditions, cultures and archetypes we associate with this cultural motif while still remaining respectful of its heritage.
Traditional Azerbaijani Carpet Weaving Art
(Source: artsandculture.google.com)
In order to look beyond Ahmed’s visual language, we have to have a little context about this ancient craft.
The first Azerbaijani carpets appeared in the Bronze age according to historians, and is one of the richest carpets in the world due to its size, number of characters and patterns, and colour tones. Their distinguishing feature is the high density of nodes (from 1,600 to 4,900 per square decimeter), which is why the “lifespan” of the Azerbaijani carpet is from 300 to 500 years. In 2010, “The traditional art of Azerbaijani carpet weaving art” was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
These carpets have been praised in historical writings, classical literature and folklore writing, and even depicted in Renaissance paintings to draw attention to a figure of importance. The symbols and patterns in the carpets can be regarded as an alphabet, and various cultural discoveries or events in history can be interpreted by studying them. Techniques on carpet weaving are usually passed verbally from generation to generation in secrecy, and despite being used in everyday life in home furnishings, holds great significance to the society. Special carpets are woven for every significant event from childbirth, to weddings and worship rituals, and cutting a finished carpet from the loom is a special celebration.
Still Life with a Jug with Flowers, late 15th century, Hans Memling
Painting from the late 15th century depicting a woven carpet of Azerbaijani origins
Mugan carpet, Karabakh school, late 14th to early 15th century, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum
The traditional carpets are handcrafted through a process involving different members of the family from the very beginning. Men help to shear the sheep and collect wool in autumn and spring, while women gather herbs for different coloured natural dyes. The sheep which provide this wool is specially taken care of, and not allowed to graze freely, resulting in a long and clean fleece. (Source: UNESCO Youtube Channel)
The wool is then spun into yarn, and grandmothers and mothers guide the younger ones in the weaving in the winter months.
The weaving process includes warping the loom, threading the yarn through the warp yarns, combing them down, and finally hammering them down to make each knot compact. As Ahmed mentions in ‘Equation’ (Film by Neta Norrmo), the tension of every knot can be heard as the weavers knock them down, and each ‘dot’ on the carpet is a concentration of human power.
As someone who has no background in weaving, I can only make superficial observations of the process. The one thing that stands out to me is how the Azerbaijan technique uses a vertical loom (similar to a tapestry loom), with warp yarns running ceiling to floor; in other weaving processes I have seen, from the small rigid heddle loom to the Japanese Saori floor loom, the loom is usually laid horizontally.
The horizontal looms also usually have a ‘shed’, which is formed when the alternate warp yarns are separated for the shuttle of weft yarn to be fed through. This makes the weaving process a lot more efficient.
Floor loom (Source: schoolofsweetgeorgia.com)
From the videos featuring Azerbaijan weaving, it seems as if the loom is so basic that its main job is to hold the warp yarn. For the piled carpets, each sliver of dyed wool is individually hooked onto the warp yarn, then hammered down with a tool to keep it compact. This means each ‘pixel’ of the pattern on the carpet is literally created one by one. It is extremely time consuming, and the position of the loom makes it uncomfortable for the weaver as they have to adjust their height following the progress of the weave.
Making carpets at the Qadim Quba workshop. Big designs require several people work on the same carpet at once. (Source: wander-lush.org)
This rigorous process is followed closely in every household, and it is apparent that these carpets hold a very special meaning to the society aside from just being decorative items. As someone who originated from this heritage, it might actually have been more difficult for Ahmed to break tradition as it requires a mental shift to view the familiar as otherwise. One of the earliest memories Ahmed had was cutting apart a family rug simply because he wanted to rearrange the pattern (Source: Forbes.com); perhaps, it is a show of how differently Ahmed regarded these rugs from a young age.
it is also a challenge for the weavers who are used to traditional motifs and methods, to accept these digital manipulations and trust in Ahmed’s vision. In a way, they are each like a knot in the pattern, playing a very important part in the larger scheme of things.
Highlights of video Social Anatomy (2016)
Director: Faig Ahmed
Exhibition: Ne var, odur (It is what It is)
While the visual impact of his work is undeniable, what truly impresses is the stable undercurrent across his entire body of work, be it sculpture or video. In spite of some work not being textile in nature, it ties back to his inquiry into patterns (namely of the carpet sculptures he is known for) and religion.
In the above video, 360 individuals are videoed from an aerial view, practising ‘traditional behaviour with traditional objects’. The symmetrical pattern is reminiscent of the carpets Ahmed is known for, and yet takes on a completely different scale and incorporates movement. The part I enjoy most is these individuals being ‘unaware’ of the important part they each play in this work, as they move about in a familiar routine. Yet it is in the power of an artist to lay out elements to ‘guide’ them in the creation of this artwork.
Much like how ‘every dot on the carpet is a concentration of human power’, each individual playing a part in Social Anatomy brings their energy to the ‘carpet’.
While this work is not textile in nature, it shows us his familiarity with the patterns in the carpet, so much so that it is still recognisable despite being stripped to its base elements. It reflects a person who has spent considerable amount of time with this medium (the woven carpet), and as we know, have literally taken it apart and put it together again so many times that a shadow of it rests in the background of all his works.
“I started with anthropological research of cultures that have never been connected, despite the symbols carrying similar meanings. I realized I have to change myself to see everyday objects differently. People ask why I make this art. It’s like asking why a shaman does shamanism. It is very personal. My artworks are just my reports that reflect various periods of my ongoing investigations. The final result itself doesn’t interest me that much.”
“Equation Project”, 2016. Image courtesy of Textile Museum of Sweden and Faig Ahmed
This installation is another example of Ahmed’s understanding of the carpet. Here, he has not only taken it apart; it is separated into 3 ‘dimensions’. Ahmed was inspired by the symmetry of the motifs while sketching, and started imagining them reflected in another dimension. Here, the motifs are being ‘peeled’ away from the background, leaving behind the stark white warp. Somehow, it reminds me of a printer that has run out of ink! In another way of putting it, the white warp is shudderingly naked in contrast with the solid and compact plush carpet, reminding one of a soul that has been lifted out of its mortal shell, or of a leaf that has disintegrated, leaving nothing but a veiny network.
The carpet that has been spliced into 3 ‘dimensions’ cut through the air and then merge together again at the end, meeting in another ‘dimension’. While it looks the same as the carpet on the other end, it has gone through a structural change before resuming its form at the end; it is a very clever way of symbolising time and dimensions.
“Art is… another dimension. It can exist in this reality and in other realities... so we can create a reality that never [existed].”
Faig Ahmed speaks of the carpet as a symbol of comfort and tradition, and one of the earliest objects from the early ages of humans. A thing to be admired, taken apart, observed, and put back together— and still a carpet. In ‘Equation’, he speaks of how an equation is like a metaphor or a symbol, where we relate one thing to the other, even if they are not the same; similarly, we can look at the very same object (the carpet) and see it as two very different things— an object, but also a process.
While incorporating new methods and his creative vision, he has still managed to put a spotlight on this traditional weaving technique and made it even more valuable, surpassing even the status of a perfectly hand-crafted carpet of such prestige.
From the videos, it seems there are circumstances where guests are allowed to touch and interact with the work (Source: Shangri-la Artist-in-Residence), reminding one of the Azerbaijan tradition of welcoming guests with carpets. Textile art always seems so inviting to touch; and it is beautiful that this tactility is being shared with the guests.
It is believed that when a baby crawls on an Azerbaijan carpet for the first time, the colours teaches it aesthetic appreciation, and the shapes, mental development. While I have never had the opportunity to see it in real life before, I look forward to the day I can touch and experience one of Faig Ahmed’s work with the eyes of a child, and appreciate for myself all the work that has gone into its creation.