Cataloguing carpets
(Carpets of the Mitchell Library: Glasgow, UK)
There are many wonderful things about Glasgow’s Mitchell Library, but amongst them is the range of psychedelic carpets on show. These are not catalogued as far as I know, but form a richly intricate and varied interior décor. I was there yesterday, accompanying Ying on a quest for research. I spent my time exploring as I have never had the chance to experience it without having an academic agenda.
My overriding impression of the Mitchell will ever be these carpets. I remember requesting several books on post war Germany and making copious notes for my dissertation, but the swirling colours of the flooring often distracted me. The exterior of the library is austere and classical, but the ground floor is slick and modernised. As soon as one ascends into the reading rooms above, myriad carpets greet the visitor. These are some of my favourites, though there was one I couldn’t quite manage to photograph due to the amount of people in that room. Of course, I took all these photographs surreptitiously, but there is a limit to my guile in a busy public place.
– Today Rosie is going back to Carlisle to spend New Year with family, UK –
