The website for the 16th International Conference on Oriental Carpets, icocxvi.com, has been launched and registration is open. With just over seven months to go, preparations in Brescia and Milan are moving along quickly, and a rich programme is already taking shape. The conference is organised in partnership with the Tassara Foundation and the MITA Museum.
The Conference
ICOC-XVI will be held in Brescia from 13 to 16 May 2027. The opening evening includes a Gala Dinner at the Centro Paolo VI, a reception hosted by the Zaleski Foundation at MITA on 14 May with live music, and a concert at the Teatro Grande on 15 May.
Academic programme
This year’s academic programme will be built through direct invitations to scholars rather than an open call for papers. The Academic Committee is convening this month, with a first round of confirmed speakers expected by late October or early November.
Dealers’ Fair
Alongside the lecture programme, the Conference’s dealers’ fair will take place at the Centro Paolo VI, bringing together carpet and textile dealers from around the world. Approximately 35 respected art dealers from Italy, Germany, France, Turkey, Switzerland and other countries will be selected to take part in the ICOC XVI Dealers’ Fair. A selection of Kazak carpets from the Zaleski collection will also be on display in the fair hall.
Exhibitions in Brescia
A number of exhibitions are being organised in Brescia to coincide with the Congress:
- Ushak!, at MITA — Anatolian carpets from the Zaleski collection, including the first public showing of a newly acquired, unpublished Selendi carpet with birds.
- Patterns and Mazes, at the Diocesan Museum of Brescia — long, narrow Persian carpets suspended in the museum’s former monastic refectory.
- The ‘Glorious’ and His Double, at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo — a large Ushak carpet from the museum’s own collection, shown alongside a comparable piece from the Zaleski collection.
- 1543: The Ladies of the Mamluks, at Palazzo Martinengo-Salvadego — Mamluk carpets in a frescoed Renaissance hall.
- Knots and Notes, in the foyer of the Teatro Grande — eighteen Transylvanian prayer and double-niche rugs.
- The Collectors’ Palace, at Mo.Ca (Center for New Cultures) — pieces from private collections in Italy and abroad, including the Theodor Springmann Stiftung (Heidelberg) and the Penny and Tim Hays Collection (Washington, DC), alongside roughly fifteen Italian private collectors.
Most shows will open in April, ahead of the Conference, and stay on view for several weeks afterward.
Milan extension
Beyond Brescia, plans for a Milan programme are moving forward as well. Two main exhibitions will be held at MUDEC (Museum of Cultures); they will showcase Safavid “vase carpet” fragments from the Bruschettini and Tabibnia collections on the one hand, and Ottoman carpets from the Sforzesco Castle collection on the other.
The Milan extension of ICOC 2027 will take place from the evening of 16 May through 18 May 2027, following the main Conference in Brescia. The programme will be open to delegates with their Conference badge, with full details to follow.
Separately, Milan’s gallery community, is planning a series of shows to coincide with the Conference. Several Milanese dealers—Alberto Levi, Mirco Cattai, Galleria Altai, and likely David Sorgato and Moshe Tabibnia as well—will be organising thematic exhibitions in their galleries and will be happy to welcome ICOC delegates.
Further updates will continue to be published on icocxvi.com in the coming weeks.