The new carpet galleries at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin contextualise the collections while keeping its woven masterpieces centre stage. The following is an extract from the Last Page section in HALI 198, entitled 'Berlin’s carpets in context':
View of the new permanent carpet installation ‘Dream and Trauma’ at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, showing iconic highlights from the museum’s collection such as the Bode cloudband prayer rug and the early Anatolian dragon and phoenix carpet
In 1904, Wilhelm von Bode presented the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin with about 20 rugs from his private collection. These holdings were added to, only to later be decimated in the Second World War. This history is told in the renewed carpet galleries inaugurated in late October 2018.
View of the new permanent carpet installation ‘Dream and Trauma’ at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, showing iconic highlights from the museum’s collection such as the Bode cloudband prayer rug and the early Anatolian dragon and phoenix carpet
As part of the new permanent exhibition ‘Dream and Trauma’, they present historic photos and even a display conjuring up the smell of charred wool, representing the destruction caused by incendiary bombs in 1945.
