Traditional Romanian rugs on display at Madrid’s Royal Tapestry Factory

RED. The Vibrant Energy of Traditional Romanian Rugs, an exhibition gathering items from the collection of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, will be on view beginning October 28 at the Royal Tapestry Factory (Real Fábrica de Tapices) in Madrid.

The exhibition aims to introduce Spanish audiences to the traditional Romanian flatwoven rug scoarță. The rug's name is linked to the way these textiles cover the walls of traditional rural homes, much as tree bark covers a trunk. As the largest textile in the home, the rug can incorporate a wide variety of decorative motifs, arranged into a coherent composition rich in symbolic meaning.

In 2016, the traditional craftsmanship of making these rugs in Romania and the Republic of Moldova was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The selection includes rugs from various regions of Romania - Muntenia, Banat, Moldova, Dobrogea, Maramureș, Oltenia, and Transylvania - alongside objects associated with spinning and weaving, household textiles, and traditional garments, "offering a broader perspective on the richness and diversity of Romania’s cultural heritage."

“Taken together, the exhibits reveal the richness of a textile culture deeply rooted in everyday life and its most significant moments, from celebrations and family gatherings to the intimacy of the home. The color red, featured in many of the textiles on display, gives the exhibition both its name and its meaning. Red is a prominent color in both Romanian folk traditions and Spain’s visual identity. In Romanian tradition, it is associated with life, energy, protection, and joy,” the organizers explain.

“Hosting this exhibition is in line with the mission of the Royal Tapestry Factory: to preserve and promote textile heritage, keep traditional craft knowledge alive, and introduce the public to the cultural richness embodied in these pieces. The more than 60 Romanian textiles being presented in Spain for the first time offer us an opportunity to discover an immensely valuable craft tradition and foster a dialogue between European cultures that share weaving as an expression of their history and identity,” Alejandro Klecker de Elizalde, director general of the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid, said.