Selvedge 120: Carpet Magic

Solomon’s carpet was reportedly made of green silk with a golden weft, 60 miles long and 60 miles wide. According to the Jewish fable, “when Solomon sat upon the carpet, he was caught up by the wind, and sailed through the air so quickly that he breakfasted at Damascus and supped in Media.” The term magic carpet is believed to have its roots in Persian and Arabian folklore, particularly in the collection of stories known as One Thousand and One Nights. These tales, compiled during the Islamic Golden Age, introduced the concept of a carpet that possessed magical powers to defy the laws of gravity and transport individuals to distant lands, evoking a sense of wonder, freedom, and exploration. Similar mystical carpets exist in Indian, Russian, Tibetan, and Chinese folklore. Their presence invites us to ask: What’s so special about carpets that they have been given magical powers?

The carpet responds to the fundamental human need of enclosure, defining and giving form to living space. It serves as protection against the limitless scales of space and time. It is both a house and temple, a place of shelter and leisure, and a place for prayer. The frame of the carpet cuts and delineates a portion of infinite space, devoting it to human existence, as is demonstrated in primary school classrooms up and down the country. Carpet time is a space where unity, respect for one another, turn-taking and working together towards a shared goal are encouraged.

As Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox, co-editors of this issue, state in their article “Breaking New Ground,” “it is because the carpet is an object of daily use throughout cultures and across societal stratifications [...] that it offers an entry point for artists’ manipulations, reinterpretations, and new creations. It provides the context to merge past with present, serious history with pop culture, and stereotypically Eastern and Western ideologies.” In this issue, we highlight contemporary artists exploring the frugal craft of rag-rug making, digital interpretations, prayer rugs, flat-woven kilims traded across continents, tattie rugs from Shetland, and the prison rugs of Jaipur.

Suspend disbelief and take a ride on our magic carpet as we merge imaginative storytelling, cultural exchange, and timeless human fascination with the extraordinary.

Text by Polly Leonard, Founder of Selvedge Magazin