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10TECHNICAL SCIENCES
E-CATALOGUE OF HANDMADE AZERBAIJANI CARPETS
Abdullayeva G., Abdullayeva A.
Institute of Control Systems of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Abstract
The article is devoted to the development of an electronic version of a catalogue of handmade Azerbaijani carpets and other products of carpet-making representing the spiritual values of the people. A multidisciplinary approach to solving the problem is proposed, for which methods of mathematics, modern information technology and artificial intelligence are widely used. A multistep structure of an intelligent information system is developed for the carpet catalogue, including systematization by time and school, revealing the history of creation, origin of designs and patterns, weaving technology, links with fauna and flora and, importantly, its evaluation as a sample of nation's spiritual culture.
Keywords: information technology, pattern recognition, recognition system, catalogue, carpet.
The arts are the product of the physical condition of a people, on the one hand, and of its entire civilization, that is, of its several hundred habits, on the
other.
Stendhal
True, the genuine, immortal works of art remain enjoyable by all ages and nations.
Hegel
Introduction. If we adhere to the rules of a classic study, then it should be noted that the evolution of handmade carpets has been driven by social, economic, sometimes political and fashion trends. This is typical
for any country. The development of science and technology played an important role in this process.
When it comes to Azerbaijani handmade carpets, one is fascinated above all by the selection of the color scheme, each border strip surprises, and the patterns are so appealing that one starts to believe in their magical energy.
Europe and Asia quite highly appreciated the skill of Azerbaijani weavers. Rich woolen and delicate silk carpets decorated eminent houses and palaces. Findings of the archaeological studies conducted in the territory of our republic and literary monuments indicate that the art of carpet-making originated in Azerbaijan in ancient times [5. p.45].
Fig. 1 Carlo Crivelli (1430-1493). Fragment of The Annunciation (Venice)
It is not without reason that Renaissance masters of high art, when selecting interiors for their famous canvases, often depicted carpets woven by the masters of the leading Azerbaijani schools. "Medallion" carpets
with a star in the center of the center field, known since the middle of the 15th century, continue to adorn museums, cultural centers, private collections, etc. even
over five hundred years later. There are many examples, and two of them are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The carpets made centuries ago in Shirvan, Karabakh, Absheron, Quba, Qazakh, Ganja, Mughan, Talysh, magnificent in their quality and technique, decorate major museums in Europe and America. It should be noted that 90 percent of carpets known worldwide as "Caucasian", especially pileless carpets, are Azerbaijani carpets [5, p. 78]. Beautiful carpets made in Azerbaijan are mentioned in the writings of Venetian traveler Marco Polo (13th c.), English traveler Anthony Jenkinson (16th c.), and Dutch navigator Jan Strauss (17th c.). There are many descriptions of carpets in the
works of Nizami, Khagani... We shall not list all cultural centers where Azerbaijani carpets and other products of carpet-making are kept today. Unfortunately, we come across numerous falsifications in the world market, and it is our duty to protect the name and origin of Azerbaijani carpets. The first impetus for us to study this process was the law "On protection and development of the art of carpet-making" issued by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic I. Aliyev on December 7, 2004. The gravity of the issue was once again confirmed by the State Program on the preservation and development of carpet-weaving in the Republic of Azerbaijan which was adopted on February 28, 2018.
Fig. 2 The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein (14978 - 1543)
Problem statement. A catalogue (Greek word meaning "list") is, in general terms, a list of information about an object, compiled in such a way as to facilitate a search by its attributes.
For instance, a catalogue raisonné is a comprehensive listing of all known artworks by an artist.
The process of making a catalogue can be divided into the following stages:
> Development of the concept;
> Compilation of the catalogue;
> Preparation of materials;
> Preparation of the electronic version;
> Printing of the catalogue.
A catalogue presents information in a single format. That is, the first page should be like a preparation for or introduction to the second page. This is especially important when the subject is large in scope.
The development of a full-fledged e-catalogue is inherently a complex multidisciplinary task involving many seemingly independent fields of science and national economy. The proposed version of catalogue for Azerbaijani carpets resembles a catalogue raisonne.
Materials and means of research. To address the problem, we brought in specialists from various fields:
- Institute of Control Systems - cataloguing and research of rare endangered Azerbaijani carpets kept in
museums and private collections in the country and abroad;
- Institute of Linguistics - preparation of a carpet-making terminological dictionary;
- Institute of Folklore - study of artistic merits, compositional features of Azerbaijani carpets as a folk art form, their links with ethnic and mythological thinking;
- Institute of Chemistry, Institute of Botany - development of fine art (natural dyes);
- Institute of Zoology - study of history, current state of animal husbandry and possibilities, perspectives of development of carpet-making;
- Institute of Economics - economic aspects of carpet production and trade, social and economic aspects of carpet-making workshops;
- Institute of Physics - deepening knowledge of carpet patterns related to astronomy and optics.
Modern science and information technology, with their vast resources, can be of considerable assistance in meeting the objectives arising from the Law, the relevant decrees, and the State Program.
Structurally, the catalogue should contain information collected from all of these sources. With this in mind, we shall consider the process of making a cata-
logue of Azerbaijani handmade carpets. In order to fulfil this task, a number of sub-tasks has to be fulfilled, among which we shall mention the following:
- systematization of carpets by region, school, and master;
- carpet decomposition;
- methods of recognition and identification;
- information obtained from the above organizations;
- open questions requiring future research;
- development of a system as the basis for future cataloguing.
In any field of decorative and applied arts, its profound study and proper scientific and artistic analysis of the origin, content, form, structure and composition of the pattern requires first and foremost that we master its "alphabet", i.e., be able to recognize the forms of its elements. It is also essential to know the technical specifics of this area of decorative art. The patterns of traditional Azerbaijani carpets, as in other regions of the world, have evolved over the centuries, but the main motifs and symbols have remained the same. The elements of Azerbaijani carpet patterns are subdivided into ornamental features of pileless and pile carpets. According to their technical and artistic features pile-less and pile carpets of Azerbaijan are subdivided into types representing different schools and groups. The composition of carpets usually includes the center field and the border. Similarly, patterns of
vided into two groups of elements: the first group includes pattern elements of the center field of the carpet, and the second one includes pattern elements of the border of the carpet.
Narrowing of the search space when recognizing complex images is one of the main challenges in the theory of pattern recognition. This fact also plays a role in the recognition of carpet designs and patterns, which are complex shapes. The number of patterns in Azerbaijani handmade carpets is in the hundreds. Recognition of these patterns requires the identification of informatively significant features that characterize the pattern. The following features have been identified on the basis of research: type, name, school, time, author, form, base material, weave density, pile height, thread material, number of border strips, number of center patterns, thematic basis of the pattern, number of colors in the pattern, etc.
Implementation of the task. The task of cataloguing should be approached systematically. An art historian sees the image of a pattern from an artistic and emotional point of view, evaluating the beauty and aesthetics of the artwork as a whole. For an information technology specialist, a pattern is a physical, static, complex object with a number of geometric parameters, colors, pixels, etc. For an individual, an e-catalogue should be a kind of encyclopedia.
Conceptually, the catalogue can be represented as
: are di- shown in Fig. 3.
Physical parameters and technology
Folklore in
patterns and carpets
Recognition and identification
Schools, weaving methods
Methods of evaluation
Literary sources dictionaries
Designs and patterns, patterns and space
Wool cotton silk dyes
Problems and objective
Fig. 3. The conceptual structure of the catalogue
Each block in the structure is presented as a collection of quite large amount of information. For instance, in the first module of the catalogue, the carpet is selected (the block currently contains 448 entries), in the second step the school is identified (famous schools are Ganja-Qazakh, Shirvan, Baku, Karabakh, Tabriz (before 1910), Quba), and so on, according to Fig. 3 [2]. For instance, to recognize a carpet pattern or design, the following points should be covered:
• attributes obtained from the expert (technical and technological indicators, artistic analysis, history of the carpet, restoration, etc.);
• attributes obtained by decomposition (number of contours in the pattern, colors, etc.), as, e.g., for the "leaf" pattern:
Fig. 4. a) "Leaf' pattern
b) contour of the pattern
c) inside field of the "Hilaafshan" _pattern (Quba-Shirvan)_
attributes obtained by methods of statistical analysis (one-parameter, two-parameter distribution function):
M
w
Fig. 5. Graphs of one-parameter functions of distribution of the "Man" pattern across different Azerbaijani carpet-weaving schools
9
• attributes characterizing expert evaluations for pattern identification (identification of its affiliation with a particular school): an intermediate database of reference Azerbaijani patterns and designs was created on the basis of L. Kerimov's works [3]. The database includes the following information: images of patterns, geometric indicators, other indicators and characteristics. Similar patterns are grouped into classes;
• attributes by calculated parameters of the center of gravity of the whole pattern and its individual components (symmetry and asymmetry of the pattern), etc.
The proposed architecture implies an approach in which the user can acquire comprehensive information with a single query. Therefore, the problem should be approached systematically, i.e., different aspects should be considered, which justifies our approach. I.e.,
the individual blocks of the catalogue provide information about the history of the carpet, which school made the product, the literary meaning of a pattern, how the origin of the pattern is linked to folklore. One can trace the identification of the "buta" pattern with the milky way, decode what plants are used to make different natural dyes, etc.
Harmony, symmetry, balance, emotion are integral parts of the perception of any work of art.
Of course, carpets evolve. Nevertheless, modern carpet retains its identity and makes ample use of classic designs and patterns, and continues to delight us with its unique beauty. In developing the catalogue, we allocated another module, based on our wish to further improve it. For example, we investigated known petro-glyphs in order to identify their connection to the patterns of Azerbaijani carpets. In doing that, we paid special attention to the rock monuments of Gobustan.
We believe that this matter requires more thorough research.
Conclusion. The authors propose an approach to developing a catalogue that considers all the key points pertaining to the Azerbaijani rug. The information collected for one carpet justifies the multidisciplinary approach to solving the problem. Each block in the system is a serious document, confirming one or another fact of the work involved in the creation of a carpet. The "Problems and objectives" block contains information of research interest. The catalogue is designed as an open system, i.e., it allows updating the information,
eliminating errors, supplementing and correcting the information.
References
1. Abdullayeva G.G., Kazim-zada A.K. Recognition and identification of plane color images in the case of carpet designs / Automatic Control and Computer sciences, Allerton Press, INC. 2008, number 6, pp. 288294
2. Kerimov, L., Azerbaijan Carpet, Baku-Leningrad: AN AzSSR, 1961. 210 p. (in Russian)
ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ КАЧЕСТВА ЗАДВИЖЕК ФОНТАННЫХ АРМАТУР
Бабаев С.Г., Габибов И.А., Керимова Л. С., Абыева З.Г.
Азербайджанский государственный университет нефти и промышленности
EVOLUTION OF QUALITY OF FOUNTAIN VALVES
Babaev S.,
Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor
Habibov I.,
Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor Kerimova L.,
Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor
Alieva Z. Asisstent
Azerbaijan state oil and industry university
Аннотация
В статье, на основе положение закона прогрессивной эволюции технических систем (ТС), дан анализ «жизненного цикла» объектов исследований - задвижек фонтанных арматур. Показан уровень качественного развития рассматриваемой ТС на данном этапе эволюции - преимущественное применение в нефте-и газодобыче прямоточных задвижек с плоским шибером и затвором типа «металл-металл». На основе выполненных исследований определены основные направления дальнейшей эволюции ТС, в том числе диагностики технического состояния и экспертизы промышленной безопасности фонтанной арматуры.
