Former building of the museum, now the Juma Mosque

The museum was established in 1967 and was initially located in the Juma Mosque in Icheri Sheher. The mosque was built in the 15th century and renovated in the 19th century. Its first exhibition was held in 1972. In 1992, after the collapse of USSR, the museum was moved to the second floor of what is now the Baku Museum Center,[1] a building that had originally been the Lenin museum.[2] The collection was named in honour of the carpet designer Latif Karimov.

Plans to move the collection to a new purpose-built began in 2010, and a new building was due to open in late 2012[3] with a visit being made by President Ilham Aliyev in September 2013.[4] The museum opened on 26 August 2014, as the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, dropping its much longer official title.[5]