Artsakh Carpets Presented as Azerbaijani Traditional Carpet Weaving Culture: Monument Watch

Copies of unique Armenian carpets with ornamentation from Artsakh are being presented in Latvia as Azerbaijan's "genetic code" and historical memory. This was reported by Monument Watch.

"Recently, Azerbaijan's policy of appropriating Armenian heritage has intensified on various international platforms, through exhibitions, lectures, and academic hearings. This time, Azerbaijani propaganda has focused on the Baltics region, particularly in Latvia, where Artsakh carpets—with their distinctive Armenian ornamentation and symbolism—are showcased as Azerbaijan's traditional carpet weaving culture. Specifically, this concerns the exhibition titled 'Azerbaijani Carpets: The Genetic Code of Memory,' which opened recently on May 16, 2024, at the Decorative Arts and Design Museum in the capital city of Riga. The main displays include Armenian carpets from the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia regions.

The carpets presented as Azerbaijani showcase symbols, animal and bird motifs, and compositional patterns that have a longstanding history in Armenian carpet weaving culture.

The exhibition, initiated by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia in cooperation with the Azerbaijani "Azerkhalcha" carpet company, is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia, which further underscores the state-driven nature of the event. Attendees included members of the Latvian government and parliament, heads of diplomatic missions, representatives of local cultural, social, and media organizations, as well as members of the Azerbaijani community residing in Latvia.

At the Azerbaijani carpet exhibition organized in Riga, carpets from the "Azerkhalcha" company are showcased. The company's samples replicate the "Eagle Carpets" from the historical Armenian feudal carpet weaving center in Jraberd of Artsakh, the 'Vorotan' type carpets from the Gaghtn region of Syunik and Nakhichevan, as well as Shirvan carpets (Jraberd - Berd, a fortress in the historical region of Artsakh, Jraberd district. Mentioned in relation to the 6th-7th centuries. Existed until the first decade of the 19th century (Hakobyan T., Melik-Bakhshyan St., Barsegyan H., Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories, vol. 4, Yerevan, 1998, p.417)). Notable carpet weaving centers have existed since the 16th-17th centuries, where the 'Jraberd' type 'Eagle Carpet' originated.

The primary decorative motif of the "Eagle Carpet" is the eagle (see images 1, 2). This represents the winged sun or manifestations of the Urartian deity Khaldi, and the figure of the armored Ahura Mazda. Such iconography of the winged sun is known in Armenian art since ancient times and is also reflected in the late medieval carpets from Artsakh-Syunik.

At the Latvian exhibition, the carpet featuring horses, deer, and predatory animal motifs (see image 3) resembles similar carpets from Shirvan and Dagestan and has comparative parallels with the carpets of the Qashqai nomadic tribes in Iran (Jourdan Uwe, Persian Carpets, Augsburg, 1995, pp. 188-189).

This exhibition, which will run until September 15, is not only a display of samples of appropriated Armenian art but is also an event with deep political implications, whose broader aim is to rewrite history, erase the Armenian identity and heritage of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and secure international recognition for all of this. It raises significant concerns regarding the preservation of cultural heritage and the ethical implications of the exhibition.

During the opening ceremony, Elnur Sultanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Latvia, emphasized the historic significance of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia, asserting that carpets with typical Artsakh ornamentation are a heritage of the Azerbaijani people. He reminded attendees that Azerbaijani carpet weaving was included in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010. This is the same list from which the 'Art of Armenian Khachkars: The Symbolism and Craftsmanship of Khachkars'—which Azerbaijan is actively working to eradicate by destroying numerous traditional and contemporary khachkars in Artsakh—was included.

Returning to the exhibition, it is noteworthy that its main exhibits are the products of the Azerbaijani Azerkhalcha company, which is the sole carpet manufacturer in Azerbaijan. This indicates that the creation of collections replicating Artsakh’s motifs is state-directed, monopolistic, and under governmental sponsorship. More dangerously, the exhibition also aims to erase Armenian identity through educational programs, as evidenced by the scientific hearings and lectures that took place in the exhibition space on May 29, when Ms. Vija Buša, an advisor at the Latvian embassy in Azerbaijan, delivered a lecture presenting Shushi as the cultural capital of Azerbaijan. The lecture also focused on a research presentation regarding the activities of Latvian artist and ethnographer Julia Straume.

It should be noted that Ms. Buša’s activities are not limited to providing diplomatic counsel for the organization of this exhibition; they also encompass support for the global program of Islamizing Shushi and presenting it as Azerbaijani. Notably, Azerbaijan pursues a state-directed policy in this regard, organizing various Islamic conventions in Shushi to distort the historical and cultural character of the city, to internationally solidify the process, and to present the city to the international community and organizations as exclusively Azerbaijani, while simultaneously destroying what exists. These trends are evident in all programs and speeches, where Shushi is solely represented as Azerbaijani and Turkic, completely silencing the rich cultural heritage, historical past, and numerous monuments present in Shushi.

Several examples below will further substantiate the claims made. For instance, as early as 2021, Azerbaijan submitted documents to UNESCO to recognize Shushi as an Azerbaijani city for inclusion in the 'UNESCO Creative Cities Network', and furthermore, in 2023, Baku designated Shushi as the 'Cultural Capital of the Turkic World'.

Our Response: The people of Artsakh, possessing rich traditions of carpet weaving, are currently deprived of the opportunity to continue their cultural practices and contribute to their community's cultural life due to forced displacement, which constitutes a gross violation of the rights of Artsakh Armenians under Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Thus, while Azerbaijan has halted the carpet weaving practices of Artsakh Armenians through forced displacement, it has also deprived them of the opportunity to enrich and preserve their intangible heritage. The carpet exhibition in Latvia is a veiled but dangerous appropriation of Armenian cultural heritage. By distorting historical facts, Azerbaijan neutralizes the genuine tradition of heritage, stripping it of its authenticity.

This violates UNESCO's accepted principles of heritage authenticity, as according to the document adopted in Nara in 1994, the knowledge underpinning heritage must be true and verifiable and must be preserved with credible information.