Modern Art Deco kilim - 280 x 189 cm

In north-western Afghanistan, artisans did something unexpected. They took the graphic codes of the Western Art Deco movement of the 1920s, and rewove them in their own language, with their own wool, their own hands, their own memory.

This one is the most free of the three. Within its 280 x 189 cm (9'2" × 6'2"), the vivid red of the centre, punctuated by small white dashes descending like a slow rain, enters into dialogue with lavender and lemon yellow panels that black blocks interrupt in an asymmetric, unexpected, almost musical way. The thick wool gives everything a depth that reproductions cannot restore.

One of a kind.