After I
wrote about the wonderful book on ghelims that I discovered in the Basel museum during my
visit in early November, I did go to see the current exhibit on Maroccan Rugs
in the Pinakothek der Moderne.
I had read about it in the
paper when it was opened, had heard good things about it from friends, and was
determined to go and see it even before I discovered the other book.
Very
impressive, very much worth seeing! Photographs were allowed without flash, so
I can show you a few although I haven’t bought a catalogue yet. (I will,
though.)
Some of the
rugs were purely woven, yet most of them were hooked. Some on both sides.
With some
you get the impression that the weaver started off with a pattern in mind and
then did not quite remember later on how
s/he wanted to continue. Or maybe just changed mind halfway through. These I
found particularly interesting, as the break in pattern appeared so slightly
and created a particular kind of suspense.
Overall, I
was very much reminded of the quilts of Gee’s Bend in the liberty and ease with which
patterns are handled. And even if you bear in mind that these pieces were made to lie on the floor, not to be presented on walls, they have a strong presence that draw you in.
Similarly
to the exhibition of Amish Quilts that was shown in the exactly same room
several years ago, however, it must be said that too much was forced into this
rather small space. Too many pieces in too little room, so that it wasn’t
always easy to catch a good view of the individual rugs. But the arranger had
made the most of it, and walking around the panels that were spaced diagonally
all over the room, at least quite a few interesting views occured suddenly and
unexpectedly. Luckily there was a second part of the exhibition on the upper
floor, and here nothing was left of 'too little space'.
On display
until January 5th, 2014.
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