HALI NEWSLETTER No. 425

[View this email in your browser]( [News] 'The Knots of the Gardens of Paradise' is showing in Brescia Castle, Brescia, Italy until 5 November 2023. The exhibition, curated by Letia-Leti zia Cariello and Giovanni Valagussa, features carpets from the Turkestan region, donated to Fondazione Tassara by Romain Zaleski. A companion event in Bergamo, ‘Hortus Conclusus’, shows thirteen 16th- and 17th-century rugs in three historic houses. Photo: Luca Zanon. [Find out more.]( [News] The Oriental Rug and Textile Society presents ‘A Modest Radical: May Beattie, the Carpets of Central Persia exhibition, and the World of Islam Festival, 1976’, a talk with historian Dorothy Armstrong. This will be held at the University Women's Club, London on 20 September 2023 at 6pm. The lecture discusses an important group of carpets shown during the unprecedented World of Islam Festival that took place in the UK in 1976. It will seek to examine 'the different narratives of carpets in the Festival’s flagship Arts of Islam exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, and in the specialist exhibition Carpets of Central Persia, curated by carpet scholar May Beattie'. It draws upon the May Beattie Archive at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum and the Arts Council Archives housed at the V&A in London. [Find out more.]( [News] For the final chapter of our exploration of Mamluk rugs for [#RugFactFriday]( we will outline some defining facts about these weavings that have been discussed over the past few weeks. - Mamluk carpet production began from the second half of the 15th century and continued until the mid-16th century. - The primary centre of production was Cairo, where they were produced by Egyptian artisans during the rule of Mamluk sultans. - Green, red, blue and yellow wool and silk are used, often resulting in an iridescent finish. - Designs are characterised by a large central medallion and surrounding geometric motifs. These carpets have been discussed in great detail in past issues of HALI and throughout carpet scholarship; as stated by Michael Franses, 'their magic has been extolled in the literature'. Yet there is still much to learn and HALI will continue to publish the most recent developments in the research into Mamluk rugs. Buy a subscription to the magazine to keep up to date with new discoveries, and to access the HALI archive, which contains a bounty of articles on these amazing weavings. Shown above is a detail from a Mamluk carpet, Cairo, early 16th century, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Buy a subscription to HALI.]( [Follow Us] [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Been forwarded this email and want to receive it regularly? Subscribe to this newsletter]( Copyright © 2023, Hali Publications Ltd., All rights reserved. [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences](