In other words, an enquiry into the Islamically influenced culture of North Africa in general and carpets from Morocco in particular leads us to the roots of European avant-garde art.
The Islamic prohibition on depictions of the human being led among the Maghreb Berbers to a radical form of abstraction and a completely free and in our eyes very modern approach to color and shape. In the age of globalization and the increasing dominance of purely Western notions, on the one hand, and the radicalization of Islam, on the other, it is so very important to focus on the intellectual linkages and cultural interchange between the Orient and the Occident.
The exhibition will center on the collection of Munich architect Professor Jürgen Adam. He assembled it himself down through the decades in Morocco – and it is one of the most important private collections of Moroccan nomad carpets the world over.
Especially in Pinakothek der Moderne the theme admirably highlights the intrinsic links between the different art genres that lay the foundations for the concept underlying this interdisciplinary museum, which is truly unique worldwide.

An exhibition of Die Neue Sammlung
Kindly supported by Jan Fischer and PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V.
The book has been produced with the generous support of Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung.

Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Moroccan carpets and Modern Art
September 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014