Plans to move the collection to a new purpose-built began in 2010, and a new building was due to open in late 2012[7] with a visit being made by President Ilham Aliyev in September 2013.

[6] According to the peer-reviewed International Journal of Heritage Studies, the basis of classification and exhibition in the carpet museum of Baku is rooted in several factors,[14] such as the geographical indicators associated with regional carpets, which reflect the development of a new type of state-sponsored national consciousness in the 1950s during the existence of the Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union.

[15] The controversial decision to replace Russian with Azerbaijani as the official state language of the Azerbaijan SSR was also implemented partly in response to its Transcaucasian rivals, the Armenian and Georgian SSRs, who had already made their own native languages official in their respective republics in 1936 after the dissolution of the Transcaucasian SFSR.

[15] The International Journal of Heritage Studies notes: The above issues are the basis of classification and exhibition in the Carpet Museum in Baku.

The current museum reflects Karimov's taxonomy (which, as noted, was a nationalist project) as well as his detailed classification of the historical periods of carpet production.

While the act of weaving is on display (using not only electronic footage and imagery, but also live demonstrations by weavers), the exhibits illustrate various applications of carpets, including in domestic life but also their utility in reflecting some historical events.

Although naming them, the museum (following the official line in the Republic of Azerbaijan) remains silent on the national origin of the depicted heroes.

[16] On the museum's second level there is a specific woven piece meant to reflect Karimov's classification and groupings of carpets, which the International Journal of Heritage Studies describes as "perhaps the most striking exhibit, in so far as territorial claims are concerned".

[16] On the piece, "under the banner of Azerbaijani carpet, various forms, motifs and artistic commonalities between Azerbaijan and other nations and ethnicities, including Iranians and Armenians are claimed and appropriated.