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GERMAN

The VOLKMANNMEETING

The Volkmannmeeting, an institution in the German-speaking world, is a casual get-together of Oriental carpet enthusiasts that goes back to October 27, 1971, when the carpet aficionado Martin Volkmann invited about 20 men and women to an informal exchange of thoughts about carpets. The Munich gathering lasted until late in the night.
Since named after its initiator, the meeting takes place every autumn in Munich. It is one of the oldest of its kind, and only the Haji Baba International can look back on a longer tradition.
The Volkmannmeeting is neither a society, carpet club or circle of friends, nor does it have any statutes or articles of association. Martin Volkmann simply organised the meeting every year at his own initiative and responsibility. In 1992, he passed on its organisation to Christian Erber, who at his own responsibility prepares the annual get-together of persons with a passion for carpets and textiles and an interest in all facets of Islamic art.
The gatherings are characterised by both tradition and change. Over thirty years of Volkmannmeetings are the equivalent to the passing of a generation, and the event has not failed to grow and develop during this time, opening up to a wider range of scholarship.
In the early days, the Volkmannmeeting was solely concerned with Oriental carpets and their differing places of origin, whereas today its scope is broader, with new angles being examined by speakers from various fields of specialisation. Nevertheless, the main focus is always on carpets and Oriental textiles, which are impossible to consider without taking the influence of Islamic art into account; indeed, they are an expression of Islamic art.
Close collaboration exists with the State Ethnological Museum and the Bavarian National Museum, both of Munich, and with the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. Scientists from German universities speak at the meetings, as do art historians from Turkey and eminent collectors from Europe and overseas. Specialists on dying with natural pigments have contributed as much to the success of the gatherings as ethnologists, historians and experts on restoring carpets and textiles.
Martin Volkmann is also the initiator of two exhibitions on carpets in private German possession; the first took place in 1978 on the occasion of the 2nd International Conference on Oriental Carpets, and the second in the spring of 1985. The gathering named for him also held an exhibition of Anatolian kelims in 2000 in connection with a symposium held on the same subject in Traunstein, Bavaria.

The Volkmannmeeting is represented by:
Christian Erber, Dipl. Ing.
Schmied-Kochel-Str.13
81371 Munich
Germany
Tel + 49 89 76736360