Faig Ahmed (Azerbaijan)

Faig Ahmed (Sumqayit, 1982) lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan and graduated from the sculpture department of Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in 2004. He represented Azerbaijan at the nation’s inaugural pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007 and participated in the show “Love Me, Love Me Not” in 2013. He is well known for his conceptual works that transform traditional decorative craft and the visual language of carpets into contemporary sculptural works of art. His art reimagines ancient crafts and create new visual boundaries by deconstructing traditions and stereotypes. Ahmed is among a new wave of contemporary artists exploring crafts in innovative ways to produce conceptual works that break away from conventions associated with the craft, by bringing it into a global contemporary art context. 

Collection

Ahmed’s works can be seen in public collections globally, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, RISD Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, George Washington University, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN; Currier Museum of Art, NH; Bargoin Museum, France; MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art, Krakow, Poland; The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia; Arsenal art Contemporain Montréal, Canada; The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway, Istanbul Modern.

His work has also been placed in private and institutional collections such as the West Collection, Philadelphia; the Microsoft Art Collection, Wake Forest University, the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York; Galila’ Collection, Brussels; Ranza collection, Rome; Jameel Foundation, Espacio SOLO, Puerta de Alcalá, Madrid; London and H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, UAE.

Faig Ahmed, a student of modern and ancient languages, including Sanskrit and Arabic, was interested in the origin of languages and human writing long before he became interested in carpets. It was his study of pre-historic petroglyphs that led to his fascination with the language of carpet patterns. Ahmed re-imagines carpets as a source code for visual communication, writing, design, art and even science.  

During the past decade, Ahmed has become internationally known for re-interpreting the coded messages in ancient carpet designs. His artwork speaks about the unconscious power of the visual language of patterns that communicates messages through generations and cultures, and links early human history with the digital age. By disrupting and re-imagining the visual code and structure of the rugs that were developed over the centuries in Caucasus, Turkey, Persia and India, Ahmed suggests new ideas about the nature of reality and the limits of human perception.

Ahmed's works are conceived with complex layers of historical, literary, mystical, and craft associations. He works closely with his female weavers throughout the process of making as he recognizes and respects the creative power of the women who harness their ancestral knowledge of carpet weaving which has withstood the test of time despite over 70 years of political upheaval and restrictions faced in Azerbaijan during Soviet rule. Through his art, Ahmed is on a journey of self-reflection and discovery to piece together the many facets of his identity, past and present. 

Exhibition

Ahmed has exhibited his works worldwide including group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Venice, Dubai, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Mumbai, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Norway, Honolulu, Melbourne, and Sydney. In the past few years, Ahmed’s works have been exhibited in several museums including the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Los Angeles County Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, MOCA Cleveland, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, NYU Abu Dhabi, the Textile Museum of Sweden, the Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte, and many others. The artist was nominated for the Jameel Prize 3 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Ahmed’s upcoming museum exhibitions include shows at The Aga Khan Museum, the New Tretyakov Gallery, and in Istanbul Modern.