AZER-ILME REVIVESNATIONAL TRADITIONS

 

Azerbaijan being one of places where the mankind had originated was always famous in the world with its rich energy resources and carpet-weaving art. The carpet-weaving history in Azerbaijan is dated back to the II millennium BC. Today Azer-Ilme Ltd is reviving and developing these traditions in Azerbaijan.

 

Caspian Energy (CE): Mr. Muradov, how important is carpet-weaving art for Azerbaijan?

Vidadi Muradov, General Director, Azer Ilme Ltd: One can be speaking long time of the art of Azerbaijani carpet that has a multi-century history and reflects the spiritual world, aesthetic sense, natural talent and philosophic perception of Azerbaijani people.

The widespread and development of carpet-weaving in Azerbaijan began, according to historical sources, in II millennium BC, on account of favorable geographic and  climatic conditions, as well as dominating cattle-breeding and economic activities of  local dwellers. Originally carpets were made for covering, flooring mats, tent curtains, but with time they gradually acquired artistic significance, satisfying aesthetic needs of people and turning into an integral part of their life and a staple of their economic activity.

Historically, Azerbaijani carpets were always made for export. Azerbaijani carpets had become known in Europe since XIV century.

The history of carpet-weaving art begins with pileless weavings like kilim, palas, jejim, shadda, ladi, zili, varni and sumakh. However, the opportunity of figurative reflection of artistic designs on a carpet surface is certainly connected with weaving pile carpets.

Azerbaijani carpet-weaving art that continuously developed at various stages of history and turned into an integral part of Azerbaijani culture, is conventionally separated into Baku, Guba, Shirvan, Ganja, Gazakh, Garabagh, and Tabriz schools. These schools differ from each other with their compositions, subjects and motives, color harmony and technological features.

 

CE: What are Azer-Ilme Ltd's capacities in preserving this heritage?

Vidadi Muradov: Our enterprise commenced its activity in 1996. Here, alongside the revival of unique but forgotten carpet compositions, a big work is performed on manufacturing carpets, developing artistic traditions of Azerbaijani carpets that decorate many museums and private collections around the globe; too, the effort is made to arrange their worthy promotion and sale in foreign markets.

We are aiming at immortalizing and developing traditions of Azerbaijani carpet-weaving art. Proceeding from this and using forgotten ancient carpet compositions, we do our best to revive artistic traditions of Azerbaijani carpet-weaving that created the masterpieces embellishing many museums and private collections of the world. We are trying to pass down this heritage to future generations. There are 350 people working in Azer-Ilme. There are designers, art critics, dyers, carpet-weavers and other specialists among them. Certainly all this work is an artistic idea embodied in woolen and silk carpets, executed in accordance with national traditions and meeting international standards; it calls for special knowledge, taste, skill and craftsmanship of carpet-weavers. One may say for sure that Azer-Ilme's specialists possess all these traits moreover, any company in Azerbaijan or abroad is able to compete with Azer-Ilme or display similar performance. We in Azer-Ilme create carpets, promote them and sell them.

While visiting the country, honorary guests are getting acquainted with the process of carpet-weaving in Azer-Ilme, they learn about how the threads and silk are dyed and how much of attention, labor and energy is spent for each knot. This causes ever greater feeling of respect and adoration to carpets.

Many our carpet-weavers, predominantly from Western regions of Azerbaijan, create real masterpieces in accordance with national and ancient traditions. This is not just a manufacture, but an art studio, a large enterprise with branch offices strewn across regions with the aim of reviving various carpet-weaving schools.

We want to revive traditions of Shirvan in Kurdamir and we have already started to restore traditions of Absheron in our Absheron branches. From this point of view, branch offices in regions are quite important. Azer-Ilme, with its branch offices in such historical centers of carpet-weaving as Nardaran, Bina, Hokumali around Baku, Kurdamir in Shirvan area and mountainous Lerik, has gained fame not only in Azerbaijan but also at the international scale due to its professional work on preservation of national carpet-weaving traditions that formed over centuries. Azer-Ilme Ltd develops artistic and technical traditions of carpets woven by craftspeople in Gazakh, Borchali, Geychay, Zangezur, Agbaba, Darachichek, Pashali, Jalaloglu, Hamamli, Sharur, Dereleyaz, Derbent, Tabriz, Ardabil, Sarab and other historical areas of Azerbaijan.

 

CE: What is the originality of Azerbaijani carpets about?

Vidadi Muradov: Azerbaijani carpets are unique by their complicated plant-like ornamental composition and distinguished helical pattern. In case one gives a good look at carpets, he will see each one as a quite individual piece by its style and quality, in color, material and ornament, pattern and picture. All that creates the whole variety and richness of Azerbaijani carpet-weaving. Therefore we can say there is no company in Azerbaijan to compete with us. Azerbaijani carpets are irreplaceable as they are rich with variety and broad range of colors. In other countries carpets ornaments are quite similar, but we have different ones and, moreover, we have a traditionally flawless manufacture process.

Here we are reviving national traditions. Azerbaijani carpet as an all-mankind masterpiece is famous around the globe today. The interest in this kind of Azerbaijani applied art is consistently growing worldwide and local weavers' works keep art fans stunned in admiration as a bright self-expression of human soul.

Along with preserving national traditions, Azer-Ilme Ltd manufactures international standard-compliant carpets in accordance with state-of-the-art artistic style and process parameters. Distinguished with fine finishing, unique design and bright matching color spectrum Aze-Ilme's carpets are manufactured of woolen or silk threads by weavers and designers in the shops. The woolen yarn made in Baku, Guba, Shirvan areas in accordance with national craft traditions and silk yarn from Sheki is balled and delivered to the dye shops.

Here the threads are dyed with mainly natural dyes. Dyes made from natural products boost the strength of emotional influence of a carpet and highlight the brightness and completeness of colors, thus bestowing an incredible beauty on a carpet.

The carpet weaving is preceded by the work of professional designers that draw up detail sketch, ornamental canvas, develop landscape motives and color solutions for each carpet, whereas defining the color range to determine technical parameters. Azer-Ilme has already drawn up to 900 different carpet sketches.

The popularity of Azer-Ilme's carpets is ensured through the quality technologies and high skill of its employees at all levels. Using looms made of durable and strong materials and incorporating the state-of-the-art technology, weavers make silk and woolen carpets of different sizes (1 to 40 sq m) and average knot density of 35х60 to 55x55 size in a relatively short time.

These fantastic carpets created with only three tools: a knife, a beater and shears, are fully complying with today's customer demand by reflecting old traditions formed through the centuries. Azerbaijani carpets with Azer-Ilme brand were successfully exhibited at trade exhibitions in Atlanta (1997), Hanover (1999) and Moscow (2003). At present our carpets are decorating private collections in the USA, Germany, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Norway, South Africa and so on.

We have a carpet gallery established at Azer-Ilme Ltd. In this tastefully designed gallery with up-to-date audio and video equipment, pleasing one's eye by its generous magnificence of exhibited carpet-weaving pieces, one may choose a carpet as his heart desires. Woven of wool or silk threads, elegant by design and displaying exquisite play and combination of hues, these carpets will satisfy the finest taste.

 

CE: Is the enterprise engaged in carpets restoration?

Vidadi Muradov: Most recently, the law on preservation and development of weaving art in Azerbaijan has been adopted. As an enterprise creating modern carpets we are committed to all provisions of this new law, i.e. we are reviving traditions. According to the law, in order to preserve the good name of Azerbaijani carpets, the newly made ones shall be of high-quality, their colors shall be natural and their individuality preserved in respect to weaving skill and ancient quality alike. All the objectives under this law are implemented at our enterprise.

At the same time we provide restoration services to the population. In case one has a damaged carpet he can address us without hesitation. Only natural dyes were used to color carpets in old times. With natural dyes we can color wool and perform a complete restoration. This job calls for a delicate approach. The defects are repaired in such a way that it would not be possible to tell out old and new parts of the carpet, so this work is an accurate one and handled by our professionals.