The multicultural tapestry of Amsterdam

A multicultural tapestry including 179 different cultures from Amsterdam. The 40-meter-long carpet was created by Amsterdam-based artist Barbara Broekman and is now on display in the Amsterdam Museum. In fact, you can walk all over it.
"My city, a celebration of diversity," Broekman has called her carpet. "I got the idea over ten years ago when I heard that people from more than 140 different cultures lived in my city, Amsterdam. Later, that number grew even more. I thought that was so special and wanted to make it visible. "
From books, magazines and museums Barbara Broekman gathered details of cultural images, ranging from Belgian lace to Turkish carpets to South African Zulu body decorations. She copied all those images down in a notebook and then, both at home and abroad, began weaving them into pieces of carpet. All those pieces have now come together to form a kind of multicultural patchwork.
The tapestry, which is 40 x 3 metres, has been given a spot in the Archer Gallery of the Amsterdam Museum where it will stay for the next six months. "I thought it was important that the carpet be displayed in a public place," says Barbara Broekman.
Ms Broekman isn't getting rich from her artwork. Although she was sponsored by several weavers, she still ended up in the red. She hopes to get back into the black by selling or auctioning the carpet. Secretly, she hopes that it will find a permanent place as a rug or wall hanging in a public building. "Maybe someone will want me to make another version of the carpet," she says hopefully.
To see other work by Barbara Broekman, go to her website: www.barbarabroekman.nl.