The Associated Press has run a video report on a triptych of carpets titled “Heavenly Religions,” made by Azerbaijani weavers and displayed at the Vatican. According to the report, the carpets, dedicated to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, bring together faith, art and culture.
The project was created from sketches by Azerbaijani artist Eldar Mikayilzade and hand-woven over eight years by 28 female weavers. Amina Malikova, director of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, said the work marks the start of a new stage in the country’s carpet-weaving tradition, noting that Azerbaijan has historically been a place where representatives of different religions have lived side by side.
The carpets were presented to the Vatican in October, during a meeting between Azerbaijan’s First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva and Pope Leo XIV. While each of the three pieces separately symbolizes a different religion and culture, together they express humanity’s shared values — peace, mercy and justice, AP reported.
The exhibition opened earlier, on September 29, at the Vatican Museums. Raffaella Petrini, Governor of Vatican City State, said culture and memory are key pillars of peace, stressing that the exhibition creates an opportunity for dialogue between different religions, peoples and cultures. Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, said the carpets are being displayed in the prestigious “Anima Mundi” section.
Ilgar Mukhtarov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the Holy See, said the eight-year process achieved an artistic synthesis of faith, dialogue and tolerance. As part of the exhibition, the documentary film “Harmony,” which tells the stories of three Azerbaijani women from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, was also presented.
The AP video also refers to the central place carpet weaving holds in Azerbaijani culture and to the craft’s inclusion on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2010. It also notes the Memorandum of Understanding signed on July 28, 2025, between Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, in the context of deepening ties between the two sides.
