Kafiya Eyvazova (Mentor) & Aghanana Rzayeva, Khadija Ismayilova (Students)
Home Within Us, 2026
Chetan (a traditional pileless woven carpet)
125 × 200 cm
Unlike other traditional carpets, the chetan carpet is not rectangular but shield-shaped. The threads extending downward give the overall form the silhouette of a house, emphasizing the protective function of home.
The patterns within the carpet are symbolic expressions of the children’s thoughts and feelings about the idea of “home.” As a mentor, I asked them to express love and care through an animal. For Khadija, the cat motif represents love and care.
In response to the question, “If you imagine the feeling of home as an object, what would it be?”, Aganena depicted a vase. For her, a vase—filled with flowers and placed on the table—has the power to gather the whole family around it. For this reason, the vase represents unity and is rendered as a flatwoven motif.
The flame motif, for Khadija, symbolizes a person’s inner world and emotions. In this sense, home is not only a physical space but also something that exists within oneself. The flame expresses light and warmth, and at times a state that is fluid and perceptible, like emotions.
Love and care are also expressed by Aghanana through the image of a bird, reminiscent of an eagle. Her engagement with sports reflects strength, while her affection for a bird she keeps at home has shaped this representation.
Thus, each motif and each trace within this work reflects the idea of home as constructed within the inner worlds of Khadija and Aghanana.