A printed catalogue "Azerbaijan carpets" was recently published by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
The book opens with a foreword by Mehriban Aliyeva, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She says: "Carpet is an integral part of every Azerbaijanis` life. I think the ancient carpets should be kept in museums". The catalogue contains entries about the stages of the development of Carpet weaving in Azerbaijan. The catalogue also offers lots of photographs and a description of a major carpet weaving schools in Azerbaijan: Guba, Baku or Absheron, Shirvan, Ganja, Gazakh, Karabakh, Tabriz and Nakhchivan Schools, distinguished by patterns, composition, color palette and techniques.
Carpet weaving is one of the most ancient kinds of arts in Azerbaijan. The archeological data gathered on the territory of Azerbaijan as well as the literature pieces testify that carpet weaving in Azerbaijan originated in extreme antiquity. And this fact is proved by the Eastern miniatures of the 14th and 15th centuries and also by European artworks. Azeri carpets were admired by the Flemish traveler and missionary Guillaume de Ruysbroeck as well as by the Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo. Azeri carpets appeared in the paintings of European artists including Hans Holbein the Younger and Hans Memling, as well as the Italian Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli.

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