Medieval Rabati Castle hosts festival of carpet art and history

The picturesque medieval Rabati Castle is hosting an international carpet festival where punters can try to weave their own carpet, have a go at dying carpet threads using colour chalk and view dozens of ancient carpets.

The three-day International Carpet Festival will begin tomorrow at the ancient complex in Akhaltsikhe in southern Georgia, where carpet creators, enthusiasts and cultural heritage experts will gather and enjoy carpets from Georgia and other parts of the world.

Looking to transform the historical complex into a venue for the colourful and diverse event, organisers will tie the carpet festival in with the ongoing Kavkaz Jazz Festival and offer free transportation from capital Tbilisi for visitors.

The carpet event will also present a diverse program involving exhibitions, educational activities and an international conference to celebrate carpet art heritage and creativity.

Colourful threads and instruments used to make carpets will be on show at the festive event. Photo from the Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts/Facebook.

Visitors can enjoy a range of activities starting on day one of the festival, including trying their hand at colouring a large plain carpet using coloured chalk and playing a game involving coloured carpet threads.

Compositions created using pencil, paper and glue and based on carpet textures found in items preserved at participating museums will also be part of the event.

Weaving lessons with carpet masters and a demonstration of how carpets were traditionally created entertain and educate carpet art enthusiasts, while up to 20 pavilions will exhibit carpets and allow experts to meet and talk with the public.

Items and compositions presented and created at the festival will feature carpet textures found at museums represented within the occasion. Photo from the Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts/Facebook.

To educate visitors, there will be documentary films screenings and carpet art literature.

Academic participants and organisations will also find their niche activity at the festival, as a conference on the importance of carpet art as cultural heritage and memory is planned for day one of the event.

As well as taking part in the activities or view the exhibitions, visitors will be able to explore the lower and upper castle of the 13th Century AD medieval complex.

The festival will feature varying carpet ornaments to illustrate the development of creative methods throughout history.Photo from the Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts/Facebook.

Furthermore, the public can also attend an ethnic jazz concert that concludes the Kavkaz Jazz Festival on June 11.

To help people get to Rabati Castle, free busses will transport guests from Tbilisi to Akhaltsikhe and back for all three days of the event.

The festival has been held in Georgia for the past few years. This year’s celebration is being staged under the umbrella of Check in Georgia, a Governmental project involving festivals, concerts and cultural occasions in Georgia throughout the year.

The 2016 Carpet Festival is organised by the Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts, Mirza Fatali Akhundov Museum of Azerbaijani Culture and Samtskhe-Javakheti Museum, along with local organisations in Akhaltsikhe.

The full program of exhibitions of the festival can be viewed here; Educational activities of the occasion can be found here and the international conference agenda is available here.