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Handmade Carpets — are they Art?

Erika Chaudhary
6 min readApr 8, 2021

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Handmade carpets are the real fascination but are they just floor coverings or a piece of art as well?

Photo by Aman Kumar on Unsplash

Handmade carpets are special not because I am selling them but because they are real art. If you’ve seen any of handmade carpets you’ll know that they have various designs, patterns, colours, symbolism and meaning. This cannot just be a floor covering, can it?

We often consider paintings as great pieces of art but handmade carpets are the real art. A great painting no one can deny the beauty, colours and composition. I studied art. I know all about oil painting. I love it. However, no one can ever walk on the painting. An oil painting can never be used other than an oil painting on the wall.

Handmade carpet, however, has two purposes: one it’s a floor covering and two it’s a piece of art. All handmade carpets from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan are made from natural ingredients, wool, silk and vegetable dyes are used to create the most vibrant colours. My final year exam was a knotted “painting” at an art school.

Little did I know years later I’d get involved in selling handmade carpets online and in Barcelona. I digress. Handmade carpets are not machine made — there’s a huge difference between the two. I won’t get into the details as I have written about it in my other blog post.

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Erika Chaudhary
Erika Chaudhary

Written by Erika Chaudhary

I am a writer who learned to code! I write about personal experiences within a humanist and global context. Find me on Twitter & Instagram @erikachaudhary

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