Her Magic Carpet

Carpets in Arabic culture are sacred spaces, symbolizing mysticism, prayer, gathering, and generosity. This installation features a 100-year-old Iranian carpet, originally created during a camel journey using a traditional weaving method that produces long panels later stitched together.

The delicate, girlish hues of the carpet suggest its origins as a wedding gift for a young bride, intended to adorn her tent window.

Leena enhances the carpet with collaged oil pastel drawings and fabrics depicting an Arabian landscape, laying it carefully on the floor. Each image reflects her personal journey to and from Arabia, honoring the carpet’s original purpose while infusing it with her own narrative. The piece evokes a sense of femininity, solace, and the bittersweet longing that comes with time spent away from home.