A rare collection of Safavid carpets woven during the 16th and 17th centuries has been opened to the public at the Farjam Collection at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology, and world-class art collector Dr Farhad Farjam inaugurated the exhibition yesterday. Called ‘Chants From Paradise,\' the exhibition features 14 carpets and various metalwork from the Safavid era, the golden age of carpet weaving in Persia, now present-day Iran. The Safavid dynasty, which ruled for more than 200 years in Persia from 1502 to 1736, provided the platform for traditional arts such as carpet weaving, the art of the book, metalwork, and textiles to flourish.The carpets come from the 800-carpet collection of Dr Farjam, recipient of the Distinguished Patron of the Arts award and founder of the Farjam Collection.Most of the carpets on display have appeared in museums in Europe and have been handled by art connoisseurs around the world. Dr Farjam has been acquiring these carpets over the last 25 years.Currently, there are 2,000 Safavid carpets around the world, very few of which remain in the Middle East. \"While I hope my chase, as Dr Parham calls it, to find these heavenly works of art, securing and preserving them never ends during my lifetime I feel honoured to have been fortunate enough to find as many of these treasures I have so far,\" Dr Farjam said in a message. \"Carpets form a very important part of our lives because we live in them,\" said Amir Arvand, curator of the exhibition. \"To these children, rugs are not floor coverings, they are major sources of learning about beauty and design and inspire a curiosity of their artistic heritage,\" Dr Farjam said. The themes of the carpets include the medallion, the herat and garden, and the flower vase. The biggest carpet on display is an Ishafan carpet from the 17th century which measures almost 10 by four metres. From / Gulf News