“In the Carpet”

Starting with two works by Sheila Hicks––both titled Gebetsteppich (Prayer Rug), from 1972 and 1974––the exhibition “In the Carpet” foregrounds the cultural-historical dimensions and production practices of this type of textile. Installed directly opposite each other are traditional Moroccan woven works, the Zemmour rug, ca. 1940, and the Beni Ourain rug, ca. 1920–30, named for the ethnic groups of the Middle Atlas that made them. At the same time, a formal dialogue runs between such traditional rugs and the works of key Bauhaus players such as Anni Albers, Gunta Stölzl, and Rudolf Lutz. Albers took traditional patterns from North African rugs and dissolved them into abstract forms: Black-and-white and graphic compositions feature in her handwoven works such as Schwarz Weiß Grau (Black White Gray,) 1927.

Saâdane Afif’s two-part work Die Geometriestunde: le motif (C3p002)/Prototyp (The Geometry Lesson: The pattern [C3p002]/The Prototype), 2015, is based on a performance in Marrakech’s Jemaa al-Fna square where a drawing from a geometry class was translated into fiber art with the help of a weaver. This piece is characteristic of the entire exhibition: It reveals the circulation of experience and knowledge and the diverse variety of forms generated by encounters between different disciplines. As both object and metaphor, the rug shows us how methodologies and threads cross paths, and become enriched for it.

Translated from German by Diana Reese.