Carpetologia

pictures by Chun-Han Chiang

“River arising from no spring and flowing endlessly to no sea.” - William Somerset Maugham

Opening Wednesday 18th October 17.00-21.00

Exhibition: 19th October - 19th November, 2017 W139 polar room (first floor exhibition space)

Lyubov Matyunina’s ‘Carpetologia’ is based on her artistic study of the history and understanding of carpets through different philosophical movements and anthropological notions. It is inspired by the idea of ‘heterotopia’, as expressed in Michel Foucault’s 1967 lecture "On the other spaces". Heterotopia is a term for places and spaces of otherness, which are simultaneously physical and mental, real places as well as mythical places. Carpets represent heterotopia in unique manners because they encompass both physical and sacral representation. Lyubov Matyunina draws inspiration from the metaphorical understanding of the carpet, as a representation of life, where the various strands that work out the pattern are human life events and choices.

Historically, carpets are contained information fields, in which the encoded form carries ideas about the world and the cultural traditions of people from different historical epochs. They can be perceived as a message or a map, where you can transfer several meanings: political, historical and sacral. Every choice becomes a visual language woven into place through patterns, threads, dyes and the process of weaving. ‘Carpetologia’ is an invitation into entering a space as a sacred system, constructed through various media and messages. Feel welcome to immerse yourself into Lyubov Matyunina’s new mythology.

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Soundscape for ‘Carpetologia’ by Arash Azadi

DOP - Konstantin Guz