Concepts and Ideas for Commercial Purposes

Archive 1997–2017: Exhibition | Interior | Project | Product

Ghost Rug | Nanimarquina | 2014

The story goes that the magic of Kerman rugs was born around 1500. Villagers in this region of central Iran, nestled between mountains and bounded by the Lut Desert, were master-weavers, creating rugs of extraordinary sizes and designs throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the old tradition resurfaced, once again making Kerman one of the main centers of carpet production in Persia. This digital redrawing of a traditional rug resurrects an ancient Kerman rug, bringing to life the mythical pictorial designs of birds, flowers, horses and deer, appearing and disappearing ... like ghosts. This redrawing of the motif is done over a period of months, and blurs, builds or reconstructs figures and elements and ornaments to create an outline of the original. The new carpet is a ghost of the first, and therefore transcends time to become timeless. Ghost is a rug made from 100% New Zealand wool that plays with the shades of black and white, a mysterious and brilliant mix of past and present. The noise and saturation of the drawing give the tapestry a contemporary twist, while tradition is maintained and enhanced by the manual hand-knotting production technique. Photo Inga Knölke