CHELEBI Collection at 3daysofdesign 2025 in Copenhagen

From June 18 to 20, CHELEBI took part in 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen, presenting its work at the historic Lapidarium of Kings in the heart of the Kultur District.

The exhibition featured a carefully curated selection of signature pieces, including furniture and décor from the Plaite collection, handwoven Azerbaijani carpets from the Elysium Series by Aida Mahmudova, and sculptural works from her Untitled Series. Visitors were also drawn to the Bugelemun Sandy ceramic coffee table and the architecturally inspired Khudafarin chair.

Founded in 2013 by artist and cultural patron Aida Mahmudova, CHELEBI bridges Azerbaijani heritage with contemporary design. The brand collaborates with local artisans and international studios to reinterpret traditional craftsmanship through a modern lens.

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.

Plaite Collection

A collaboration between Mahmudova and Spanish designer Natalia Ortega, Worn Studio. The collection explores weaving as both a technique and a narrative, uniting fibers, blown glass, ceramics, wood, and metal into sculptural objects for the home. Each piece is handcrafted using ancestral techniques and bound with leather and natural fibers, bridging structure and fluidity, tradition and contemporary design.

Khudafarin Chair

The Khudafarin chair is an expression of strength and sculptural elegance. Inspired by the architectural mastery of the Khudafarin Bridge, its solid oak frame mirrors the bridge’s enduring structure, offering both stability and refinement.Designed for those who appreciate both form and function, this chair balances heritage with contemporary craftsmanship, seamlessly integrating into modern spaces.Handcrafted with precision, the Khudafarin chair transforms everyday seating into an experience of comfort and artistry. Created in collaboration with the renowned British architectural bureau Saga, it reflects a philosophy where every detail speaks of balance and beauty.

Sculptures

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

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.

Ceramic Table

The Bugelemun Sandy coffee table is a celebration of raw beauty, texture, and craftsmanship. Its surface, composed of individually crafted tiles, captures the essence of Absheron’s natural landscape—sand, shells, ash, clay and stones—each element infused with the spirit of the earth.Created in collaboration with artist Aida Mahmudova, every tile undergoes a unique firing process, resulting in subtle variations that make each piece one of a kind. The table’s organic textures invite touch and exploration, bridging nature with contemporary design.

Carpets

From the Elysium Series (2024–25), handwoven carpets, each measuring 150 × 200 cm, crafted across three artisanal workshops in Nardaran, Shamkir, and Guba, Azerbaijan.

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.

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.

Lamps

The sculptural lamps from the Untitled Series (2025) are the culmination of the artist’s ongoing experimental laboratory with glass.

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.

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.

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

CHELEBI’s debut at 3DaysofDesign offers visitors a rich sensory experience where tradition meets modernity, celebrating Azerbaijani identity through art and design.

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