NEWS

Taylor Swift's first concert in 13 years in Italy did not disappoint on Saturday, when the American pop star ignited Milan's San Siro stadium with her art and energy before an adoring audience of 65,000 people, according to ANSA.

The 34-year-old set the crowd in raptures even before she started singing with a simple greeting of 'ciao' in Italian.

'Swifties' had come from many other parts of the world for the show and VIPs in the crowd included fashion designers Pierpaolo Piccioli and Sabato de Sarno, and Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc.

She will perform the second of her two concerts in Italy at the same venue on Sunday night.

“Poetry.com”, a leading US literary portal, has posted the poem “Violets” by Molla Panah Vagif, the prominent poet of Azerbaijan in English as part of the Azerbaijan’s State Translation Centre’s “Azerbaijan Literature in an International Virtual World” project.

The translator of the poem presented with information about the poet’s creativity is the well-known translator Tom Botting.

The literature portal “Poetry.com”, which has a wide auditorium of readers, regularly publishes works by such outstanding writers and poets as William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Friedrich Schiller, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Pablo Neruda, just to name a few.

The 7th “Kharibulbul” International Music Festival, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, wrapped up on Monday with a concert program in Azerbaijan’s city of Lachin.

Addressing the ceremony, Ilham Gahraman, a poet and publicist, member of the Azerbaijan Writers' Union, hailed excellent level of organization of the music festival, which kicked off in Shusha and continued in Lachin city, featuring colorful performances by artists and creative groups.

The festival ended with the song “The whole of Azerbaijan” performed by all the participants.

The 7th “Kharibulbul" International Music Festival, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, commenced in Shusha on May 11. Shusha hosted this year’s event as the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World 2024. The festival kicked off with a concert at the Jidir Duzu plain in Shusha, featuring artists and creative groups from ICESCO member countries.

This grand cultural gathering also brought together participants from the UAE, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Guinea, Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Türkiye.

An exhibition entitled "Garabaghname" opened on Sunday as part of the 7th Kharibulbul International Music Festival, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture in Shusha.

The exhibition, launched at the Creative Center in Shusha, features the works by 23 artists reflecting the history, rich culture, and everyday life of Karabakh, especially the history and architecture of Shusha.

"Lalazar Bridge", "Saatli Mosque", "Free Shusha", "Pearl of Shusha", "Motherland" and other works by Azerbaijani artists, highlighting the history and fascinating nature of Karabakh, aroused great interest among the visitors.

The artists, whose works are on display, also shared their joy saying that they will dedicate a special place to Karabakh and its crown jewel, Shusha in their future works.

The 7th edition of the “Kharibulbul" International Music Festival will be held in Shusha and Lachin cities on May 11-13.

The festival jointly organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture, will feature concert programs and various presentations.

The city of Shusha was declared “the Cultural capital of the Islamic world for 2024”.

The next "Kharibulbul" International Music Festival will bring together ICESCO member states and their on-stage performance groups.

The official opening of Shusha - the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World 2024 and the 7th edition of the “Kharibulbul" International Music Festival will be held on May 11 on the Jidir Duzu plain.

The "Kharibulbul" music festival, which bears the name of flower symbolizing Shusha, was first organized on the mysterious Jidir Duzu plain of Shusha in May 1989.

AZERTAC’s photo correspondent Ilgar Jafarov has won gold medals at the two international photo contests held in Serbia.

The competitions held under the auspices of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) featured 1970 photos by 102 authors from 40 countries.

Ilgar Jafarov's photo titled "Emotions of a weightlifter" earned him the FIAP gold medal.

Another photo by Jafarov, entitled "Athlete Willpower" was awarded the Danube International Photo Association’s (DIPA) gold medal in the "Gold shadow 2024" photo competition.

The photos, awarded in the "Photojournalism" nomination, were taken at the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Brazil in 2016.

On May 5, the opening ceremony of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Malmo, Sweden.

Report informs that the opening was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the competition.

All participants walked through the Turquoise Carpet. Only the delegation from Israel did not participate in the ceremony due to the anniversary of the Holocaust.

This year, the first and second semi-finals of the continent's main song contest will take place on May 7 and 9. The best performer will be voted on in the final on May 11.

Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture Adil Karimli has met with Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, who is participating in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

Addressing the meeting, Minster Adil Karimli highlighted Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations, praising the fact that the organization is among the traditional partners of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held for the sixth time this year within the framework of the "Baku Process".

The minister emphasized Azerbaijan’s readiness to share its ideas regarding the development of the Baku Process global platform with UNESCO. He stressed the country’s interest in cooperation with the organization in variety of fields, including artificial intelligence.

During the meeting, the two also hailed the importance of UNESCO's representation and acting as a partner at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be held in Azerbaijan this year.

The two also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

On May 4-5, Azerbaijan’s inaugural National Carpet Festival, co-organized by the Administration of State Historical Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher” and “Azerkhalcha” OJSC, and supported by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO), will be held in Icherisheher.

Throughout the two-day festival, numerous events dedicated to the art of carpet weaving will take place in Icherisheher. These include exclusive exhibitions showcasing ancient, modern, and designer carpets, as well as carpet-weaving masterclasses for both adults and kids. Educational seminars, interactive theater performances, a fair, a mugham evening, and a concert program are also scheduled. During the festival, the streets of the Old City will be adorned with carpets and special decorations featuring carpet motifs, adding to the colorful and magical atmosphere of the event.

Attendees interested in the art of carpet weaving will have the opportunity to explore every stage of carpet making, including dyeing threads, applying dyes and patterns, weaving, processing, burning, and washing the carpets. Skilled artisans from "Azerkhalcha" OJSC, representing 14 regions of Azerbaijan, will provide hands-on demonstrations on the intricacies of carpet weaving and processing directly on the loom. Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science and Education will each host stands at the National Carpet Festival.

Notably, the National Carpet Festival, to be hosted by Icherisheher, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is dedicated to the professional holiday of "Carpenter's Day," established by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on November 25, 2016. The mission of the Festival is to promote and safeguard the rich tradition of Azerbaijani carpet weaving, listed as UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage.

Organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azerbaijan will present a national pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale with support from Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy.

Since 2027, Azerbaijan has actively participated in the Venice Biennale, a renowned global art platforms.

The national pavilion will exhibit works by honored Azerbaijani artists Irina Eldarova, Rashad Alakbarov, and Vusala Agharaziyeva.

Titled “Foreigners Everywhere,” the 60th Venice Biennale will run from April 20 to November 24.