The exhibition Kum Kapi: Travelling Carpets establishes a dialogue between two artists from different eras – Hagop Kapoudjian (c. 1870-1946) and Mekhitar Garabedian (b. 1977) –, whose life stories, directly linked to the Armenian diaspora, are associated with Calouste Gulbenkian’s own life story. 

Published for the occasion of the exhibition, this booklet transports the visitor to the origins of the Kum Kapi carpets, produced by Armenians during the 19th century in the district with the same name. Having conceived and restored carpets for Calouste Gulbenkian, Hagop Kapoudjian was one of the most famous master weavers of this ‘school’ and author of three of the six carpets exposed in dialogue with two works by the contemporary artist Mekhitar Garabedian, based on exercises for learning the Armenian alphabet.  

This booklet contains reproductions of the six carpets that make up the show, introducing the reader to the history and work of the two artists, strengthening the connection between tradition and contemporaneity their works suggest.