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Azerbaijani Carpets Displayed In Mountain Jewish History Exhibit

Tourism Office held special exhibit in Tel Aviv

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“The chosen artworks reflect different aspects of Jewish life in Azerbaijan, symbols and elements in a cheerful and colorful way.” (Photo: Rami Meir and ATB)

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Azerbaijan’s Tourism Office hosted a special exhibition of artwork created by the famous Azerbaijani-Israeli artist Rami Meir at its representative office in Tel Aviv.

In a press release, Azerbaijan’s Tourism Attaché Jamilya Talibzadeh stated: “We are thrilled to host such an honorable artist in Israel. Heritage, tradition, and culture as well as authentic arts are some of the main factors attracting tourists and Azerbaijan has these in abundance.”

According to her, “We are specifically aiming to draw attention to the Jewish heritage and its roots in Azerbaijan with Rami Meir’s impressive work.”  

Meir, who was born in Baku, is known for displaying Mountain Jewish life in his paintings.  According to his website: “He created a series of paintings titled Mountain Jews that includes more than 40 canvases based on documentary material about the life, everyday life, occupations, crafts, clothes and jewellery of the Mountain Jews.”

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“Using old postcards and photographs, Meir studied faces, characters, fabrics and textures of clothing of Mountain Jews from books, customs, crafts and history,” they added. “He collected all of this knowledge as well as his own childhood memories, stories of relatives in a series of paintings dedicated to his native people. At the same time, he collected the parables of the Mountain Jews into a book and called it ‘A Slip of Wisdom.’ The book became a kind of semantic addition to a series of paintings by Mountain Jews.”   

According to Azerbaijan’s Tourism Office, “Four of his works were carefully chosen for the exhibition in Tel Aviv—three made into handmade carpets along with one of his original paintings. The chosen artworks reflect different aspects of Jewish life in Azerbaijan, symbols and elements in a cheerful and colorful way.”   

At the event itself, Talibzadeh proclaimed: “We hope that by being impressed by the carpets displayed here, you will be eager to visit Azerbaijan.” She noted that together with Meir’s work, Azerbaijan’s Tourism Office also displayed carpets by Azerxalca, “Azerbaijan’s largest state carpet manufacturing company, who brought here unique carpets that you can touch.”

“I want to show you the history of Caucuses Jews and Azerbaijanis,” Meir declared. “Unfortunately, not too many people know where Azerbaijan is on the map.   Today, I am very happy that the history of Azerbaijan is displayed.”

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Following Meir’s presentation, Ayoob Kara, who served as Israel’s Communication, Cyber and Satellite Minister, spoke of his love for Azerbaijan: “I was in Quba.  You can see the Mountain Jewish culture very well there.  There, one can see how much the Azerbaijani government values the Jewish people. From my heart, I want the Jewish people to feel free to go to Baku and to enjoy.”

After Kara spoke, a presentation was given about Azerbaijani carpets. The presentation stressed: “Carpets for us are not only about culture. They are a way of life. There are pieces that we take all through our lives. When we have kids, we take carpets. When the kids move away, we give away carpets. We move family carpets throughout our lives. It is not only the tradition of the country.  It is the tradition of the family.”

Azerbaijani carpets are famous worldwide for being hand-made and high-quality.  One of the carpets on display at Azerbaijan’s Tourism Office displayed a “Pomegranate Garden.” Another carpet showed “Carpet Weavers from the Red Settlement, Guba in 2022.”  And still others had very beautiful designs. 

Many of the visitors speculated about the process of buying Azerbaijani carpets. They were told that foreigners are permitted to purchase Azerbaijani carpets and to bring them back to their home country, even if they are antiques, so long as they register it properly with the authorities.    

Sivan Gamliel is a freelance writer, who works for the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy.       

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Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.

We do news differently!

Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.

We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!

Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.

Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.

We thank you for your ongoing support.

Happy reading!

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