Selvedge World Fair: a celebration of cloth, culture and creativity took place online on 31 August - 5 September 2021.

Selvedge World Fair: a celebration of cloth, culture and creativity took place online on 31 August - 5 September 2021.

Dr Shirin Melikova, Director of Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Chair of ICOM Azerbaijan National Committee hosted the session in Create Day on Saturday 4th September. Maija Esko, Finnish textile artist, Shaivyya Gupta, Indian textile designer, Dominic Sansoni from the BAREFOOT design and textile house, Patrice Perillie, immigrants’ rights attorney from Mexican Dreamweavers supporting indigenous weavers and artisans made interesting presentations at the online session.

Dr Melikova spoke about carpet weaving art, the symbol of Azerbaijani culture, which plays the main role in our people's lifestyle. She presented the museum’s innovative projects and inclusive programs and talked about the development of the art of hand dyeing yarn and the revival of ancient carpet weaving techniques. Following this, the participants joined a virtual tour at the world's first Carpet Museum led by Firahnaz Musayeva, Head of International Relations and Innovations Department. People's Artist Eldar Mikayilzade welcomed participants in his workshop. The carpet artist talked about the preservation and development of carpet weaving traditions in Azerbaijan and demonstrated the weaving process of new woolen and silk carpets.

Artisans from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Egypt, Austria, Great Britain, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Canada joined the twelve 2-hour talks in Create Day.

The fair presented collections by more than 150 artisans demonstrating the national and cultural heritage and textile traditions of 75 countries.