2017 Modern Prayer Rug

Modern Prayer Rug enhances traditional felt-making techniques with laser cut templates and resists to produce expressive prayer rugs from merino wool and camel hair

Wispy wool fibers – agitated with water and soap – will tangle and blend to form a non-woven textile: felt. The ancient process requires careful observation and keen sensory awareness. With deliberate movement and attention to the strands of wool, the material transforms before your eyes. It is a natural alchemy; out of many, one. 

The 2017 Field Study consisted of a 5-day felting workshop in Oldeberkoop, the Netherlands. Students and faculty each designed and felted a modern prayer rug. To prepare, ahead of time, we used software to prepare templates, stencils and precisely cut elements, which we brought along when we traveled.

Praying is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Prayer rugs, used by Muslims everywhere, have a rich history that spans the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Traditional prayer rugs are woven, featuring distinct patterns and colors that often reveal a rug’s place of origin. A prayer rug’s purpose is to delineate a clean space for performing prayers. Muslims pray toward the direction, qibla, of the Kaaba in Mecca. One common characteristic of traditional prayer rugs is a distinctive design element, used to orient the rug toward the qibla for prayer. These elements often mimic the mihrab niches found in mosques that direct the congregation towards the qibla. As a result, prayer rugs are practical and functional at the same time they are sacred and revered. 

Our modern felted prayer rugs explore the following themes: modernity (impact of advanced materials and technologies on the act of fabrication), tactility, surface, depth, function, portability, comfort, durability, and cultural resonance.