When Yuri Gagarin flew into space for the first time in human history in 1961, Turkmen carpet weavers were also impressed.
At the National Carpet Museum in Ashgabat, a carpet with his portrait with the inscription "from the Turkmen people" is among 2.000 unique exhibits on display today.
"The carpet-makers have managed to achieve an almost absolute portrait likeness and have been precise in the details. Their jewelry craftsmanship will leave no one indifferent; the density of local carpets sometimes reaches 1,000,000 knots per square meter," say the experts.
There are many carpet portraits of Gagarin in Turkmenistan, including one showing him with Nikita Khrushchev, the then-Soviet leader, and another cosmonaut pioneer, German Titov. Contemporaries said that Gagarin was an admirer of Turkmen carpets, and one of his examples featured prominently in the interior of his flat.
It remains to add that a bronze bust of the legendary Soviet cosmonaut was installed in downtown Ashgabat two years ago. This sculpture was donated by the International Charity Public Foundation "Dialogue of Cultures - One World."
The Vozrozhdenie company from St. Petersburg (Russia) provided the architectural design and granite pedestal.
Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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