A ceremony of laying the foundation of the State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpet and People's Applied Art named after Latif Karimov was held in Baku
A ground breaking ceremony for the State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpet and People Applied Arts named after Latif Karimov took place on May 15 within Seaside National Park.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.
The Museum, construction of which was initiated by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and is to be carried out with the support of UNESCO, will be built in the shape of a rolled carpet. The design of the building was performed by the Austrian company Hoffmann-Janz. Construction work will be carried out by local company AIKON.
The three-storey building of the Museum will cover an area of 18,446 square meters, and contain exhibition hall, carpet weaving and sewing center, library, souvenir and book shop in the first floor, conference and audio-video presentations room in the second floor, and exhibition zone with huge design opportunities in the third floor. Under the building there will be archive, warehouse, lab, restoring and preserving sections. Area for display of statues and carpets has been envisaged outdoor. In the lobby there will be rooms of safe type for exhibition of jewels.
According to the project, the building’s length is 121,25 m, width 22,3 m, height 18,5 m.
Along with President Ilham Aliyev, present at the ceremony were First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors Princess Firyal of Jordan and ex-President of Iceland Vigdis Finnbogadottir.
Culture Minister Abulfas Garayev and representative of the Austrian company informed President Ilham Aliyev of the project.
Then, film ‘Khalcha’ about the ancient folk art of Azerbaijan was shown. The film talks about care rendered by national leader Heydar Aliyev, President Ilham Aliyev and President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, MP Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva to protection and development of folk arts of Azerbaijan, including carpet-weaving.
President Ilham Aliyev and UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura addressed the cornerstone laying ceremony.
