Central Park Carpets, Summer Green
Central Park satellite view, NYC, Google Maps
A series of Persian-inspired carpets that depict New York City's Central Park.
The carpets were designed by Ido Michaeli and hand-knotted by traditional weavers in Afghanistan.
Central Park—the most renowned park in the world is more than a geographical location: it's a Western icon that is depicted here on carpets from the East.
The project connects the tradition of gardens in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, to the West of our time. It shows how the all-American park carries a tradition that began with the agricultural revolution: with the transition to permanent settlements, a longing for nature emerged and with it, the first urban gardens were created. They allowed people to connect with nature and were followed by carpets, depicting gardens, which brought nature indoors. To this day, most eastern carpets depict gardens.
The Central Park Carpets are an attempt to find the common ground where it seems as if there is none, to deepen the understanding that it is not "us" versus "them" and to bring the poles closer together. It's an attempt to think in terms of global creativity and tell an inclusive story. In days of political conflicts and social polarization, the project strives for the coexistence of supposedly contradicting narratives, in one image, and offers a conversation between cultures and between countries.
Central Park Carpets
Central Park Carpets is a series four carpets, one for every season.
The carpets are 16 x 4 ft each, and are made of natural wool.
Rich in botanical arabesques, the pattern of the carpets is also a miniature model of the park, including every path, bridge, garden, and landmark such as the Bethesda, the Guggenheim Museum, and the carousel.
Top to bottom: Spring Bloom, Summer Green, Autumn Rust, Winter Night
Central Park Carpets, installation view, Artport TLV | Images courtesy of Artport TLV | Photography: Tal Nisim
Central Park Carpets, Summer Green, 16 x 4', high-density hand-knotted wool
Right: Central Park, New York City | Left: Central Park Carpets, Spring Bloom (detail)
Central Park Carpets, Autumn Rust, 16 x 4', high-density hand-knotted wool
Right: Central Park, New York City | Left: Central Park Carpets, Autumn Rust
Central Park Carpets, Winter Night, 16 x 4', high-density hand-knotted wool
Right: Central Park, New York City | Left: Central Park Carpets, Winter Night
Elements
Elements, 12 paintings, watercolor on cotton paper, 18x12", installation view, Artport TLV
Images courtesy of Artport TLV | Photography: Tal Nisim
A series of watercolor drawings on graph paper, showing different elements from the Central Park Carpets.
Following the ancient craft of carpet-making, every square in these drawings represents a knot on the Central Park Carpets.
Watercolor on cotton paper, 18x12"
Elements, 12 paintings, watercolor on cotton paper, 18x12"
Ido Michaeli
Ido Michaeli is a multidisciplinary Mid-East artist, based in the US
Michaeli's work resides on the seam of fine art, design, and craft.
Michaeli holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem and has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums internationally. For the last decade, he's been collaborating with traditional artisans from around the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Palestine, India, and China.
Artist Statement
My practice combines fiber art, conceptual art, and traditional crafts. It is based on collaborations with traditional artisans from around the world and addresses questions of interculturalism, identity politics, global economy, and post-colonialism. I work with diverse mediums such as painting, video, and apps, and my main medium is fiber art: I create elaborate images, rich in details, references, and narratives and send them overseas to be hand-woven by traditional crafters on luxurious textiles, such as carpets, tapestries, and embroideries.
Born to a family that immigrated from northern Iraq, I grew up on the seam of conflicting identities: The Eastern traditions of my family versus the Western environment we were living in. This cultural split made me constantly juggle between different cultural codes; an experience that deepened even further a decade ago, when I moved to the United States and became an immigrant myself.
My main motivation as an artist is to shatter cultural, racial, and political stereotypes, and to bring together clashing worldviews. I believe that art enables us to break boundaries and understand languages we don’t speak. Through art, I collaborate with people from faraway places, different cultures, and often-overlooked traditions. These collaborations are an invitation to look through another's eyes and search for what we have in common.