Prayer and Transcendence at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Prayer and Transcendence
Through July 1, 2023
In the Muslim faith, carpets create physically and spiritually “clean” spaces during the daily ritual of prayer. Drawn from five collections, this exhibition introduces the purpose and iconography of classical prayer rugs from across the Islamic world, as well as design comparisons from the Jewish tradition.
Prayer carpets share a distinctive iconography recognized by Muslims around the world. Developed over centuries and circulated through trade and religious pilgrimage (hajj), this set of images – including flowers, an arch, lamp and water pitcher – transforms each carpet into a sacred space where the worshipper can commune with God. Prayer and Transcendence explores this iconography and its interpretation across time and artistic traditions, from Ottoman Türkiye to Safavid Iran to Mughal India.
Examples on display from western Anatolia, the Caucasus and Iran all share a central motif: an elegant arch surrounded by vegetation and flowers. One of the most iconic images in a prayer carpet, the arch often symbolizes the gateway to paradise, conceived in the Koran as a lush, walled garden. The exhibition also explores the spiritual meaning of the lamp and water pitcher motifs that recur throughout prayer carpet design.
Spanning the 16th through 19th centuries, the works on display are drawn from five collections – The Textile Museum Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cincinnati Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Markarian Collection – and also include related examples from outside the Islamic tradition.
Support for this exhibition and related programming is provided by Aramco Americas, the Bruce P. and Olive W. Baganz Fund for The Textile Museum Exhibitions and Publications, the David Berg Foundation, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and the Markarian Foundation. Additional support is provided by Tina M. deVries, Helen K. King, Mary Jo Otsea and Richard H. Brown, Roger and Claire Pratt, and David M. Sloan.
Exhibition Program:
Prayer Carpet Colloquium
Tuesday, March 21, 2023 — Wednesday, March 22, 2023
This two-day virtual event will bring into conversation scholars and other leading voices from across the globe. Held in conjunction with Prayer and Transcendence, the colloquium is designed to enrich the scholarly contributions of the exhibition. Panelists on the first day will explore prayer carpets in context, with a discussion of the divine interpretation of these works following on the second day.
Tuesday, March 21: Prayer Carpets in Context
Keynote: Walter Denny, distinguished professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Deniz Beyazit, associate curator, Department of Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Suzan Bayraktaroğlu, retired director, Vakiflar Carpet Museum
Şerife Atlıhan, retired director of research, Center of Traditional Handicraft and Design, Marmara University
Wednesday, March 22: Designing for Transcendence
Keynote: Idries Trevathan, curator of Islamic art and culture, Museum at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture
Fatima Žutic, head librarian, faculty of Islamic Studies, University of Sarajevo
Alberto Boralevi, independent researcher, Florence, Italy
Turgut Saner, History of Architecture Department, Istanbul Technical University
Hülya Bilgi, director, Sadberk Hanım Museum
