NEWS

Azerbaijan National Art Museum has announced the winners of the contest dedicated to the museum's exhibits.

Sevda Mammadova, Turkan Muradova (essay "For the Sake of Mankind"), Ulviya Abbasova (essay "A portrait of Mrs. Mah Talat) and Konul Zayidova  (essay "Unknown Soldier) are among the winners in the "Best Story Written in a Foreign Language" category. 

All contest participants will receive a diploma from Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture and free tickets to the Azerbaijan National Museum and Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum.

The winners of the Grand Prix will be announced in near future. You can still join the contest sending essay inspired by the museum's rich collection.

Founded in 1937, National Art Museum consists of two buildings standing next to each other. Over 3,000 items in 60 rooms are on permanent display at the museum. Moreover, about 12,000 items are kept in storage.

Art connoisseurs have a chance to enjoy the best examples of decorative-applied arts of Western Europe.

Art works of Italian, French, German and Polish painters are displayed at the museum.

The second edifice built in 1885 houses Eastern art, represented particularly by Persian, Turkish, Chinese and Japanese art.

Russian art is represented by paintings of Karl Briullov, Alexey Venetsianov, Vasily Vereshchagin, Isaac Levitan, Vladimir Makovsky, Valentin Serov, Vladimir Borovikovsky, Vasily Tropinin, Konstantin Korovin and Ivan Shishkin. There are also restored samples of Russian avant-garde.

The works of Azerbaijani artists such as Mir Mohsun Navvab, Bahruz Kangarli, Tahir Salahov, Azim Azimzade, Salam Salamzade, Vidadi Narimanbeyov, Mikail Abdullayev, Togrul Narimanbeyov and sculptor Omar Eldarov are also kept in the museum halls.

A documentary "Stalin's Dark Past" has won Top Award at People of Color: The International Cultural Exchange International Film Festival (US).

Shot by Jalaladdin Gasimov, the film is based on real stories from archives. Bolsheviks of Stalin were gathering money from banks in Tbilisi, Baku, Baku`s oil millionaires each month, and the Nobel brothers were one of those millionaires. Stalin was captured by Tsardom guardians 7 times, he managed to run out of jail in Siberia.

The film was edited by Akbar Goshaly. The documentary was narrated by Eldost Bayram.

The first People of Color: The International Cultural Exchange International Film Festival (2020) celebrated City College of New York’s 100th anniversary of founding the oldest continuing documentary film school in the United States. 

This year the festival received 3,047 films from 47 countries. 

The main goal of the festival is to generate an association with filmmakers, universities and special screening houses worldwide to highlight the challenges and support a common struggle against gender and color segregation.

The 209th session of the UNESCO Executive Board has been held in a virtual format.

The session discussed the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on UNESCO's programs and activities.

Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, Ambassador Anar Karimov addressed the event.

In his speech, Karimov  provided insight into Azerbaijan's contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He also presented Azerbaijan`s statement as a chair of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"Azerbaijan takes the floor in its capacity of Chair of NAM Group UNESCO chapter to express the concerns of NAM member states related to COVID-19 pandemic that affected not only our health, but also the vital elements of our social life. The NAM strongly believes that at these challenging times for humanity, a global response based on unity, solidarity and renewed multilateral cooperation is needed more than ever to fight the growing tendencies of inequality, racism, discrimination, stereotyping and prejudices, as well as unilateral coercive measures against NAM Member States in violation of the UN Charter and international law," said Karimov.

"The Online Summit-level Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group in response to COVID-19 on 4 May, as well as the meeting of health ministers of NAM member states on May 20 were organized by the initiative of the Republic of Azerbaijan with a view to consolidate our efforts to help countries in mobilizing resources and implementing adequate measures to address the adverse impacts of COVID19. The NAM welcomes UNESCO’s prompt reaction to address the challenges, including disruption of educational and cultural institutions around the world and to find solutions for the future postpandemic period. However, the NAM believes that these initiatives should be conducted in close consultations with the Member States, without deviating from rules and procedures of Governing Bodies of UNESCO," he added.

Notably, Azerbaijan became member of UNESCO on June 3 1992, after restoration of its independence. In 2003, Azerbaijan and UNESCO signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

Many Azerbaijan's cultural sites have been included into UNESCO's World Heritage List.

The Icherisheher (Old City), Maiden Tower and Shirvanshah's palace were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, while since 2007 the Gobustan National Historical-Artistic reserve also listed among these heritages.

Sheki, a significant city at the crossroads of the historic Silk Roads was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Baku.

In 2017, UNESCO recognized Azerbaijan's dolma  as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Art of crafting and playing with kamancha, presented jointly by Azerbaijan and Iran, was also inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

UNESCO also celebrated the 600th anniversary of the death of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Imadaddin Nasimi and the 200th anniversary of the first settlement of Germans in Azerbaijan last year.

"MyBook" reading service has listed the book by the Azerbaijani writer Elchin Safarli among TOP books by foreign writers to read this summer.

The list also includes the books by Alex Michaelides, Joel Dicker and others.

The book titled "The House where the light is on" took the fourth place in the voting, held by EuroRead 2020, a book analogue of the famous music contest.

The voting was held on MyBook e-library from April 30 to May 14. The organizers decided to find out which foreign book of the last five years their readers consider the best.

"The House where the light is on" is a story of love, loss and finding of the long-awaited peace. Written in the epistolary genre, this book includes frank, happy and sad letters addressed by the grandmother to her granddaughter, with whom she is not even familiar.

The book consists of letters from the main character Anna. She writes them to her granddaughter Flora, but never sends them. In the letters, she speaks of her life, love and shares her experiences. Through his heroes, Safarli tries to uncover the very concept of love - a sense of something multifaceted and deep. He says that there is no wrong love, just as there are no ugly colors. The author dedicated the book to his Russian grandmother Anna Pavlovna. 

In 2019, Forbes Russia included this book in the list of the 12 best-selling novels of 2019.

Safarli is also the author of the bestsellers "Sweet salt of the Bosphorus" and "There without coming back".

The novel "Sweet salt of the Bosporus" earned the approval of the Nobel laureate for literature Orhan Pamuk. The famous Turkish writer, with whom Safarli met at the 11th Congress of the Azerbaijan Writers Union, presented the review to his first book.

"When I talk to this talented young man, I am convinced that the world literature still has a future," Pamuk said. 

Therefore, the Russian press nicknamed Safarli "the young Orhan Pamuk", and the author received the "Discovery of the Year" title in 2008.

In 2011, Safarli produced the short film "Alone with everyone".

Elchin Safarli's stories collected in his books are often part of his life, which he shares with readers.

Safarli's works have gained immense popularity and their number is already quite large. The author is famous for his amazing laconic style of writing.

Zhara Music Festival has been postponed until next year.

The long-awaited event was expected to take place in Baku from July 29 to August 2, bringing together 300 celebrities.  

However, the festival`s organizer Emin Agalarov announced that the dates had changed from the dates originally scheduled amid coronavirus pandemic. 

The list of celebrities will remain the same. All tickets purchased this year will be valid next year! No additional fees will be required, even if the price increases in 2021.

The festival will take place from July 28 to 1 August, 2021.

In addition, in 2021, all planned facilities will be completed on the territory of Sea Breeze: apartments, villas, a hotel, swimming pools and recreation areas so that you can fully enjoy the festival.

Zhara Music Festival is co-organized by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Emin Agalarov, Honored Artist of Russia Grigory Leps, founder of Russkoye Radio and Zolotoy Grammofon award Sergei Kozhevnikov.

More than 200 singers and bands like Chingiz Mustafayev, Monatik, Philipp Kirkorov, A’Studio, Vera Brezhneva, Bosson, Rita Dakota, Dmitry Matatov, Glyuk’oza, Nikolay Baskov, Kristina Orbakaite, Burito, Aleksandr Panayotov, Ani Lorak and others took part in the last year’s festival.

For more information, please contact: +994503002862. 

President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order about the establishment of Beshbarmag Mountain State History, Culture and Nature Reserve.

The territory of the Beshmarmag mountain (Five Fingers) located in Siyazan's Galashikhi village has been declared as Beshbarmag mountain State History and Culture and Nature Reserve.

According to the order, the State Tourism Agency  will ensure management of the reserve.

The Cabinet of Ministers is entrusted to determine border and protection zone of Beshbarmag Mountain State History, Culture and Nature Reserve within two months in cooperation with the State Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and Siyazan Regional Executive Power.

A special regime should be established on the territory of the Reserve within three months.

The Cabinet of Ministers is entrusted to inform the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev about the work carried out in this direction and solve other issues arising from this order.

The required necessary expenses will be allocated from the funds provided for the State Agency for Tourism in the state budget of Azerbaijan for 2020.

The chief conductor and music director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev has signed a contract with three leading European music agencies: Künstleragentur Sandra Milankov  (Germany / Serbia), MG Artists Management (Slovakia) and Diakov Agentur / Diakov Opera Management (Germany).

The negotiations with agencies were carried out since September 2019. The cooperation was laid during his tour with the Slovakian Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava in November 2019, and a New Year concert held in Belgrade last December, Trend Life reported. 

Azerbaijani conductor got acquaintance with Diakov Agentur / Diakov Opera Management in Poland, during the premiere of the new production of Adana's Giselle ballet at the Wroclaw Opera Theater, where he was invited as a musical director of the performance.

All three agencies will cooperate the Azerbaijani conductor and represent him in Europe.

Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater continues a free streaming of opera and ballet productions. 

The program features world-famous operas, including "The Barber of Seville", "Tosca", "Madama Butterfly", "Javadkhan", "Shah Ismayil" and others. 

Below you can find the program of the online performances for June, 2020:

10 June (7 p.m.) - G.Puccini - "Tosca"

13 June ( 7 p.m.) - G.Garayev and F.Garayev - ballet "Francisco Goya" (based on the symphony "Goya")

14 June ( 7 p.m.) - G.Verdi - "Aida"

17 June ( 7 p.m.) - M.Magomayev - "Shah Ismayil" 

20 June ( 7 p.m.) - G.Puccini - "Madama Butterfly"

21 June ( 7 p.m.) - ballets "Chopiniana" and "Paquita"

24 June ( 7 p.m.) - G.Puccini - "Gianni Schicchi"

27 June ( 7 p.m.) - S.Faradjev - "Javadkhan" ballet

28 June ( 7 p.m.) - R.Leoncavallo - "Pagliacci"

You can watch the above mentioned productions live-streamed on YouTube.

For more information, please visit the theater`s official Instagram and Facebook. 

A one-act plays contest has been announced in Azerbaijan. The theme of the competition is the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

The contest "Together we are strength" is co-organized by Azerbaijan State Theater of Young Spectators, Sabail Executive Power, UNESCO, Association of Azerbaijani Clubs at UNESCO, ASAN Volunteers as well as "Azerbaijan" magazine.

The main goal of the contest is to reflect negative consequences of coronavirus pandemic through art. 

To join the art competition, your play must express the fight against COVID-19, virus's impact on the country's social life. The plays should never have been published or staged anywhere before. Your one-act play should not exceed 40,000 symbols. The text of the play should be written in the font Times New Roman (12), line spacing 1, file format "doc." A4.  Each author can submit only one work to the competition.  

The competition is open only for those who are no older than 35 years. Those who wish to take part in the competition can send their work to the theater’s email address (g.t.teatr@mail.ru) until July 31. The letter should contain the author's personal information and his contacts.

The submitted works will be evaluated by the jury. The winning play will be staged at the theater by the end of this year.

The best plays will be handed over by the theater management to the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture as a recommendation for staging in other theaters.

With its incredibly rich collection, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum never cease to amaze art lovers. 

The museum has provided insight into Yaloylutepe-type vessel, a sample of the Albanian period from its "Ceramics, Glass, Wood, Paper" collection. 

Ancient Yaloylutepe vessels were found in Gabala. This type of pottery is considered to be the hallmark of Albanian ceramics, since it practically does not mentioned at any other place.

The vessel has a spherical body, consisting of a figured corolla and an elongated, slightly raised grooved spout that has a mesh screen on its base.

The presence of a mesh screen suggests that such type of vessels were used for brewing certain herbs. The  broth was used for medicinal, and perhaps ritual, purposes.​ In viticulture, this mesh screen prevented the grapes from falling into the vessel.

Founded in 1967, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum displays some of the best examples of the carpet weaving art.

The museum, initiated by Latif Karimov, an outstanding scientist and carpet weaver is beautiful inside and out. The new building of the Carpet Museum, designed in the form of a rolled carpet, opened in the Baku Seaside Park in 2014 and all carpets were transferred to this museum.

Today the museum hosts many events, such as exhibitions, international symposiums, and conferences.

In 2019, the museum received the national status for its significant contribution in popularization and promotion of the Azerbaijani Carpet Weaving Art.