Opening

Monday, 10/06             from 5 p.m.

regular opening hours

Wednesday to Friday      3 to 7 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday           1 to 6 p.m.

Every weekend: carpet café with free pastries, coffee, and tea

About the exhibition

WE ARE NOT CARPETS presents newly created, unique personal carpets and their stories, which are experienced in a poetic, cinematic and sensory way. The exhibition shows a dissensus between a carpet and a Carpet, once the weaver binds it with her own name, story, colors, patterns and aesthetic. Through their carpets, artist weavers from the North Khorasan region in Iran tell their stories by transforming their craft into a medium of storytelling and works of art.

“The rug of life became the playground of all I desired. Its patterns – whatever I dreamed of, its threads – -whatever I wished for, its colors – whatever I longed to embrace.

Today, I am the sovereign of this palace, the ruler of my own realm. It is I who decree where each color rests, and where each pattern takes its place.

When the weaving was done, I finally believed in the magic of transformation.

The rug of life, thread by thread, little by little, gently taught me the courage to change. With a soft slope, without battle or bloodshed, it gifted me bravery
And when the weaving was complete, I found myself closer to who I am.

I love myself more deeply, and I have discovered my own worth.”

Masoumeh Zolfaghari – The Weaver Artist

The presented carpets are the result of the collaborative research project “Weaving Memories” by Tahereh Aboofazeli und Arjang Omrani. Ten artist weavers from this region have participated in the „Weaving Memories“ project. Among those, five artist weavers are taking part in the installation in Siegen: Masoumeh Zolfaghari, Asieh Davari, Saheb Jamal Rahimi, Taqan Beik Barzin and Zohreh Parvin. Zoleikha Davari provides additional support with stabilizing weaving work.

The research project “Weaving Memories” presented its first installation of carpets and stories titled WE ARE NOT CARPETS from September 27, 2024, to January 5, 2025, at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne. →website

The second installation will be on view from October 8 to 31, 2025, at POOOL, the cultural project space of gruppe 3/55 e.V. in Siegen (Löhrstrasse 3).” → website

The exhibition is curated by Tahereh Aboofazeli (University of Cologne) and Arjang Omrani (Ghent University) in cooperation with the DFG funded Collaborative Research Center (SFB 1187) “Media of Cooperation” at the University of Siegen.