Chelebi at Downtown Design Riyadh. 20–23 May 2025

Chelebi debuted in Riyadh as part of Downtown Design 2025, held from 20–23 May at the JAX District — a dynamic cultural hub set against the historic backdrop of Diriyah — with its inaugural regional showcase: a special commission by artist Aida Mahmudova. At the heart of the presentation was From the Elysium Series (2024–25), a collection of handwoven carpets, each measuring 140 × 200 cm, meticulously crafted across three artisanal workshops in Nardaran, Shamkir, and Guba, Azerbaijan. The work reflects Mahmudova’s continued exploration of memory, landscape, and material heritage through contemporary craft.

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Azerbaijan boasts a rich and ancient tradition of carpet weaving, recognized globally for its distinctive aesthetic and technical mastery. The defining principle of Azerbaijani carpet artistry lies in its flat, pictorial composition — where the rhythm of the design, the balance between the central field and the border, and the concise geometry of motifs create a sense of visual harmony. Though technically complex, these carpets appear visually flat, emphasizing pattern over spatial depth.

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Mahmudova’s long-term commitment to material exploration introduces a sculptural dimension to this tradition. Through experimentation with layering and three-dimensionality, she expands the possibilities of textile-based practice. Her carpets challenge conventional boundaries, proposing that rugs can function not only as surfaces but as sculptural forms in their own right — tactile, spatial, and charged with conceptual depth.

The sculptural pieces from the Untitled Series (2025) are the culmination of the artist’s ongoing experimental laboratory with ceramic, glass, and natural stone.

The ceramics feature handmade glazes composed of locally sourced Azerbaijani materials — including oil, ash, seashells, sand, clay, and stone — resulting in a process that is both grounded in the landscape and singular in form. Mirroring the allure and tactile quality of the glazes, the glass elements are blown to emphasize porosity, surface texture, and the presence of air bubbles — evoking the same material sensitivity found in the glazes themselves. In this way, the glass becomes an extension of the ceramic surface, echoing its texture in a more fragile form.

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Drawing inspiration from cairns — stone markers composed of vertically stacked, pillar-like stones that historically served as funerary, commemorative, memorial, and guiding landmarks — the artist reimagines these ritualistic forms as personal repositories of memory.

These vernacular structures channel the momentum of time and serve as navigational stones for the artist herself, mapping an intimate and symbolic terrain.

The sculptural series was created in close collaboration between Aida Mahmudova’s Studio in Azerbaijan and Worn Studio in Spain.

Aida Mahmudova is an artist and a patron of arts and design of Azerbaijan. She is the founder of YARAT Contemporary Art Space in Baku and Chelebi, a brand specialising in collectible design and decor. In her artistic practice, she explores themes of memory, place, and belonging and experiments with materiality through installations, sculpture, and painting.

Mahmudova earned a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London. She has exhibited internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in Baku, MAXXI Museum in Rome, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Leila Heller Gallery and Sapar Contemporary Gallery in New York, Gazelli Art House and Saatchi Gallery in London, and the National Pavilion of Azerbaijan at the 56th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia. Her works are in private and museum collections worldwide.

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