NEWS

A captivating depiction by Pablo Picasso of his then 22-year-old muse and lover as a sea creature is expected to fetch more than $60m at auction in London next month, according to Euronews.

Femme nue couchée (Naked woman reclining), completed in 1932, reimagines Marie-Thérèse Walter – a proficient swimmer, where Picasso never learned to swim – as a graceful, multi-limbed aquatic animal.

The pair met in 1927 when Picasso was 45 years old and unhappily married and Walter was 17. At the time Walter, who lived with her family in Maisons-Alfort, Paris, had no idea who she was.

The following summer, Picasso secretly installed her in a seaside holiday camp close to where he and his wife, the Russian-Ukrainian dancer Olga Khokhlova, and their son were staying.

Described as the Spanish painter's “golden muse”, Walter figures in some of Picasso’s most sensuous and iconic artworks. Though their 14-year relationship remained a closely-guarded secret for years.

The motion picture academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, according to AP.

The move comes after a meeting of the academy’s Board of Governors to discuss a response to Smith’s actions.

“The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage,” the academy said in a statement.

“I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” Smith said in response. He pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting, calling his actions “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.”

Smith will keep the Oscar he won after the slap, and he will remain eligible to be nominated for and to win more of them in the 10-year period, though he can’t show up to accept them.

The Baroque Music Days International Festival will be held in Baku on April 23-26.

Within the framework of the festival, music lovers have a chance to enjoy magnificent baroque music.

A series of concerts and master classes will be held at the State Academic Philharmonic Hall, the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater and the Baku Music Academy as part of the festival.

The Baroque Days International Music Festival will bring together musicians from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Italy and Georgia.

Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera  "Orpheus and Eurydice" will be premiered at the festival's opening ceremony.

The Baroque Days International Music Festival will also feature a concert of harpsichord music with the participation of the Tbilisi State Chamber Orchestra (Georgia) and D'accordo ensemble (Azerbaijan).

The artistic director of the International Academy of Lyric Art, professor Vincenzo De Vivo (Italy) will hold a master class as part of the festival.

Baku Music Academy (BMA) invites you to enjoy music by Frederic Chopin on April 13.

Laureate of international competitions, talented pianist Murad Abasov will perform at the concert timed to the Baku Music Academy's centenary.

Murad Abasov received his bachelor's degree from the Trossingen University of Music in Germany after studying at the BMA's Special Music School-Studio.

After bypassing the master's degree, the young talent entered the doctoral program, making him the first Azerbaijani to do so.

Given the highest requirements for young musicians, this is the third such case in the German university's 80-year history.

Lithuanian photographer has showcased his works in Baku.His photo exhibition "My Optimism" took place at Art Tower Gallery within the Days of Francophonie.

Heads and representatives of diplomatic missions, well-known cultural and public figures attended the event.

In their remarks, the Lithuanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Egidijus Navikassaid  and the head of the Arts Council Azerbaijan Dadash Mammadov noted that the photo exhibition is dedicated to the city of Kaunas, the European Cultural Capital 2022.

Kaunas is the second largest and most important city in Lithuania. Through his works Martynas Plepys presents a look at the city's modern architecture.

Kaunas's architectural gems have been shown from interesting angles. The city's houses are characterized by minimalism and repeated architectural forms, various geometric shapes and much more.

The architecture of the city is dominated by Art Nouveau, which forms the image of Kaunas.

The exhibition visitors were especially impressed by the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the National Art Museum, the Kaunas Central Post Office and other architectural buildings. The exhibition will run until April 8.

Meanwhile, the Francophonie Days are being held in Azerbaijan on April 1-22 under the motto "Future Francophonie", to highlight the support of young people and their aspirations, especially in the fields of entrepreneurship, digital technologies and sustainable development.

The Francophonie Days are held with the participation of six diplomatic missions, including the Embassies of France, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

April 30, 2022 marks the 85th anniversary of Uzeyir Hajibayli's "Koroghlu" opera.

The Epic of Koroghlu tells about the lives of people, their struggle for justice and freedom.

The storyline is based on a national epic about poor, abused villagers who rise up to defeat their unjust, oppressive khans and beys (landowners) in the 16-17th centuries.

In the epic, Nigar devoted her entire life to the Koroghlu movement. She passionately believes in the righteousness of her lover and does her best to help him fight against feudal oppression.

Uzeyir Hajibayli's masterpiece takes a special place in the  repertoire of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

The Epic of Koroghlu will be staged at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater on April 30.

The theater's leading soloist Honored Artist Ramil Gasimov will perform the main role in the anniversary opera production.

He will share the same stage with People's Artists Ali Askarov (Vezir), Akram Poladov (Ali), Fidan Hajiyeva (khananda), Honored Artists Ilaha Afandiyeva (Nigar), Jahangir Gurbanov (Hasan khan), Tural Aghasiyev (Hamza Bey).

The opera will be conducted by the laureate of international conductor competitions, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev.

Latvian film “Bille” has been shown in Baku as part of the project on gender equality, Report informs.

The film director Inara Kolmane took part in the presentation organized by the Latvian Embassy in Azerbaijan.

The family film is based on the novel “Bille” by the popular Latvian writer Vizma Belsevica.

It is a life-provoking, hopeful and solemn story about the growth of one human child and the relationship with the world in Latvia at the end of the 1930s.

Bille lives in a world where the poor have their streets and the rich have theirs. She has learned to cope with poverty but is deprived of her mother’s love; relatives take care of Bille but keep reminding her regularly that she is a good-for-nothing who won’t achieve much in her life…

The Latvian embassy, jointly with the UN Azerbaijan office and the Norwegian embassy in Ankara, organized an International Project of Contemporary Art 'O' on gender equality, as the continuation of the project “Maiden Tower. To be a woman.”

A press conference on the presentation of the Four Seasons of Shusha international photography contest was held at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art.

The event was attended by the head of the press service of the Ministry of Culture Maryam Gafarzade, the head of the department of museums and galleries Nargiz Abdullayeva, the curator of the project Angelo Bucarelli.

Nargiz Abdullayeva said that the project will organize trips of foreign photographers to Shusha in winter, spring, summer, and autumn of this year: “The world-famous photographers from Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, and Finland will take part in the project. The project was organized with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The project will be launched in late April and early May. The photographers will stay in Shusha for a few days and an excursion will be organized to the place. These photos are expected to be displayed at world exhibitions. Our goal is to promote Shusha.”

She also noted that the local photographers will also have the opportunity to work with foreign specialists: “Specialists will train them and share experiences in this field.”

Angelo Bucarelli said that the project will promote Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage: “As photographers will come from different countries, the cultures will be combined. About 30 and 40 quality photos will be selected for each season. The collected images will be printed in the form of a catalog. Then, exhibitions will be organized in Baku and many countries around the world. It is planned to create a website for virtual acquaintance with pictures”

Known for their beauty and strength, Karabakh horses will be put up for auction for the first time. 

The auction will take place in the Gobustan Demonstration Cattle Breeding Complex at Agroservice OJSC on April 15.

Both local and foreign farm owners and entrepreneurs are invited to take part in the auction.

The Agriculture Ministry reports that Karabakh horses to be sold at the auction will be insured as well.

The Karabakh horse is considered one of the rare species in the world and the oldest in Asia and the Caucasus.

They are slim, with attractive faces and are kind and gentle by nature. Despite their delicate appearance they are known for their stamina and they have been very successful racers. Their suppleness also made them the ideal mount for traditional games like Chovgan and Sur-papa.

Chovqan, a traditional horse-riding game played on Karabakh horses, is inscribed on UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Back in 1956, Queen Elizabeth II was presented with the Karabakh horse Zaman, who for the first time represented the ancient horse-breeding culture of Azerbaijan in Great Britain.

Karabakh Horse is considered one of the rare species in the world and the oldest in Asia and the Caucasus.

This stunning horse breed has a small, well-defined head, a straight profile with a broad forehead, and large nostrils. The neck is set high, average in length, muscular and elegant.

The color of the Karabakh breed can be red, buckthorn, brown, bay, gray or golden-red, which is also called the golden glow.

The Estate of Haji Gulu is a historical and architectural monument in Shusha.

Constructed in 1849  by the order of merchant Gulu Mahammadalioghlu, the three-story building brilliantly reflected the national architectural style. There were 46 rooms and two large halls in the Estate of Haji Gulu.

One of those halls of the Estate of Haji Gulu is supposed to be described in the picture of the Russian artist V. V. Vereshchagin who traveled to Shusha in 1865.

In plan, the home was shaped like an extended rectangle.

A staircase connected the service area of the ground floor with the second floor (dining and living areas).

The third floor consisted of a large hall and guest rooms located next to it.

On the facade overlooking the courtyard, there was an open three-storey veranda.

A staircase built on the back of the house led to the veranda.

There was a large living room in the Estate of Haji Gulu,  typical for the wealthy Shusha houses.

The dining room and the bedroom were made in a beautiful architectural style that corresponds to the profile of their use.

Communication with the first floor is assured through the main staircase and another for the servants.

Unlike most of the Shusha houses and palaces, a considerable number of large windows were installed in the Haji Gulu estate. All windows are in the shabaka style.

Shabaka art appeared in Azerbaijani architecture between the 9th and 12th centuries.

The main feature of this art is based on the fact that no glue or nails have been used during the construction of the figures. Little pieces of colored glass are inserted into a wooden lattice usually made from walnut or oak trees.

Folk craftsmen used their compositions with thicknesses of only one millimeter.

Nowadays no one can reach this skill level: the material used by them is glass about three millimeters thick.

After Armenia's occupation, the Estate of Haji Gulu was shelled by artillery fire and its walls were destroyed. Only some parts of the walls have survived until our days.