In an exclusive Canadian showing, A Thirst for Riches: Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West points to the active history of trade between Europe and Muslim civilizations while exploring how beautiful objects acquire new meanings as they are exchanged.

Drawing from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — supplemented by loans from other institutions — the exhibition pairs mid-17th-century Dutch paintings featuring Eastern carpets with actual carpets produced in the East during the same period. Did these carpets symbolize wealth and worldliness — or did they signify vanity and excess? A Thirst for Riches: Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West is a powerful reminder of the cultural impact of trade.