NEWS

Baku will host eight international tournaments in various types of gymnastics in 2020, the first of which will be the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) Nurlana Mammadzade told media representatives.

“The World Cup will be held in Baku on February 15-16. Several teams of participating countries are already in Baku. They are in training until the start of the World Cup. These are the teams of Georgia, Kazakhstan, also the New Zealand. The teams arrived in Baku on Feb. 8,” Mammadzade said.

"Over 150 athletes from 30 countries will participate in the World Cup. The winners of the Olympic Games in trampoline are expected to participate in the competition. The upcoming World Cup in 2020 is licensed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as in 2019. That is, these Competitions are very important for athletes," the secretary general said.

Qualifications will be held on the first day of the two-day competition, and finals will be held on the second day.

Azerbaijan will be represented by two gymnasts - Seljan Magsudova in individual trampoline and Farid Mustafayev in tumbling.

Spectacular concert marking the 75th anniversary of People's Artist of Azerbaijan Polad Bulbuloghlu has been held at Heydar Aliyev Palace.

At concert, guests were presented with video on the long-term creative activity of prominent public and cultural figure.

In his speech, director of ASAN Radio Emin Musavi noted Bulbuloghlu's successful activity in various areas.

The event was attended by Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, who wished him further success. Mikhail Shvydkoy emphasized Bulbuloghlu's great contribution to the strengthening of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

The audience then enjoyed beautiful songs of Polad Bulbuloghlu. The singer was accompanied by the State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of People's Artist Siyavush Karimi. The concert was truly spectacular and left a lasting impression on the audience.

The celebration of the anniversary was a major event for the prominent public and cultural figure.

His 75th birthday Bulbuloghlu celebrated with military personnel in Beylagan region. Polad Bulbuloghlu met with servicemen and viewed conditions of military service.

Moreover, "Love and Death" ballet was  successfully presented at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater as part of the birthday celebration.

For the first time the ballet "Love and Death" was staged in Baku in 2005. The ballet was choreographed by professor of the Vienna European Academy of Ballet Vakil Usmanov. The art director of the ballet was famous artist Rafis Ismayilov.

This time, the audience enjoyed the ballet version staged by Russian choreographer Nadezhda Malygina and art director Dmitry Cherbadzhi.

The old Turkic mythology, which the story is based on, is the fount of human moral values, rules and traditions. It presents the existential view of man and nature, man and the elements.

The ballet is not only nominally, but really can be perceived as a true saga, a musical paraphrase of Book of Dede Korkut. The ballet was met with a storm of applause.

The audience was thrilled by amazing performance of People's Artist Gulaghasi Mirzoyev, Honored Artists Jamilya Karimova, Makar Fershtandt, Nigar Ibrahimova, Samir Samadov, soloists Timur Odushev and others. The ballet was conducted by Honored Artist Eyyub Guliyev.

At the end of the evening, Polad Bulbuloghlu went on the stage and expressed his gratitude to the audience.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev handed "Heydar Aliyev" Order to Polad Bulbuloghlu for his outstanding contribution to the Azerbaijani culture and long-term fruitful public and political activities.

Bulbuloghlu has successfully presented Azerbaijani pop music abroad. The singer has won multiple prizes at international festivals. Musical works by virtuoso composer blend multiple genres, including large symphonic works, chamber and instrumental music and so on.

He successfully toured the entire USSR and performed around the world. The singer successfully performed in Russia, Canada, Turkey, France, Argentina, Poland, Germany, Denmark and other countries.

In the 1990s, Bulbuloghlu started a political career. He became the Azerbaijani Culture Minister and is currently the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia.

"Love and Death" ballet has been successfully presented at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

The ballet by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Polad Bulbuloghlu is all about eternal love and powerlessness of death before the heroic deeds. The event was timed to the 75th anniversary of prominent public and cultural figure.

Among guests was Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy.

In his speech, Mikhail Shvydkoy stressed that Polad Bulbuloghlu is a professional who works in various music styles. Through his works, Bulbuloghlu proves that art has no age.

For the first time the ballet "Love and Death" was staged in Baku in 2005. The ballet was choreographed by professor of the Vienna European Academy of Ballet Vakil Usmanov. The art director of the ballet was famous artist Rafis Ismayilov.

This time, the audience enjoyed the ballet version staged by Russian choreographer Nadezhda Malygina and art director Dmitry Cherbadzhi.

The old Turkic mythology, which the story is based on, is the fount of human moral values, rules and traditions. It presents the existential view of man and nature, man and the elements.

The ballet is not only nominally, but really can be perceived as a true saga, a musical paraphrase of Book of Dede Korkut. The ballet was met with a storm of applause.

The audience was thrilled by amazing performance of People's Artist Gulaghasi Mirzoyev, Honored Artists Jamilya Karimova, Makar Fershtandt, Nigar Ibrahimova, Samir Samadov, soloists Timur Odushev and others. The ballet was conducted by Honored Artist Eyyub Guliyev.

At the end of the evening, Polad Bulbuloghlu went on stage and expressed his gratitude to the audience.

The birthday of famous singer will be marked at Heydar Aliyev Palace on February 7.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev handed "Heydar Aliyev" Order to Polad Bulbuloghlu for his outstanding contribution to the Azerbaijani culture and long-term fruitful public and political activities.

Bulbuloghlu has successfully presented Azerbaijani pop music abroad. The singer has won multiple prizes at international festivals.

Musical works by virtuoso composer blend multiple genres, including large symphonic works, chamber and instrumental music and so on.

He successfully toured the entire USSR and performed around the world. The singer successfully performed in Russia, Canada, Turkey, France, Argentina, Poland, Germany, Denmark and other countries.

Three of his songs became Song of the Year and he received numerous prestigious awards in the Soviet Union.

Moreover, his  popular roles in many films turned him into a film star and gained him ever large popularity among cinema lovers.

Polad is the only Azerbaijani musician who was honored as a star in "Stars Square" in Moscow in 2000.

In the 1990s, Bulbuloghlu started a political career. He became the Azerbaijani Culture Minister and is currently the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia.

The International Ocean Institute (IOI) will hold a regional workshop on the Caspian Sea - Sustainable Development and Management in the Caspian Avaza (tourist zone in Turkmenistan) from March 9-20, 2020.

The seminar will bring together representatives of relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.

The workshop will be organized with the participation of Caspian Sea Institute and Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IOI is a non-governmental organization with the status of a special advisory body of United Nations (UN).

The Institute works closely with UN programs and specialized agencies as follows: the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), etc.

The program of the current training includes a wide range of issues directly related to economic, social and environmental aspects of the development of the Caspian littoral states, their cooperation in these areas.

It is expected that audience will familiarize themselves with the main provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was signed and confirmed by about 160 states and the EU.

YARAT Contemporary Art Space invites you to enjoy a wonderful music evening on February 13.

The event is timed to the closing ceremony of "Fragile Frontiers: Visions on Iran's in/visible borders" exhibition which displays works of 15 artists who view frontiers as precarious, ephemeral or frictional.

The concert will feature winners of international and republican competitions Alp Aliyev, Sara Dilruba, Ismayil Zulfugarov, Parvin Dadashova, Gulnaz Eldarli and Nazrin Mustafayeva. The musicians will stun the audience with music pieces of Azerbaijani and Iranian composers. 

While examining the dilemma of borders within the Iranian context, alongside its neighboring nations, the art show "Fragile Frontiers: Visions on Iran's in/visible borders" raises such important topics as political identity and internal, interpersonal and international boundaries.

The exhibition brought together talented artists Nazgol Ansarinia, Kamrooz Aram, Dadbeh Bassir, Samira Eskandarfar, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Samira Hodaei, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Robin Mandel, Ali Momeni, Timo Nasseri, Jaleh Nesari, Navid Nuur, Leila Pazooki, Sara Rahbar, Neda Razavipour and the old master Mirza Kadym Irevani.

The exhibition’s title is inspired by the essay Fragile Frontiers: The Diminishing Domains of Qajar Iran by Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, which outlines two types of frontiers: literal, physical separation, and metaphorical "cultural" boundaries.

The exhibition at YARAT sheds light on non-violent divisions, that nevertheless disrupt constructive dialogue, uproot collective consciousness and negate common history, faith and culture.

On the first floor, art lovers can explore the invisible frontiers between body space and city space; chaos and order; social and personal space; "I" and "other".

Kamrooz Aram’s new multi-media work Elegy of Blue Architecture (2019) contains multiple cultural references from Iran, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan - countries united by a Persian heritage – through various materials and forms.

"If the object in question is hundreds of years old and the borders that delineate nations have shifted and evolved over centuries, then the claim of national origin assigned to an object is dubious (geographic and national origin, of course, are not necessarily the same," the artist explains.

His installation is set in dialogue with a masterpiece by Azerbaijani portraitist Mirza Kadym Irevani, famous for his "typical" Persian miniatures.

Leila Pazooki’s work Untitled – Room #3 (2012/2019) also explores the notion of barriers: "Unwritten rules, social and cultural taboos, conservative and traditional limitations, laws that we are not familiar with – those are all invisible borders we encounter every day, boundaries we don’t realise we cross each minute."

The second floor offers a counter-position, focusing on the experience of boundlessness and exploration beyond physical limits, referencing elements of nature: earth, sky, water.

An immersive marble and mirror gateway by artist Navid Nuur acts as a mediator of time, creating an entrance to a parallel universe.

The cosmos is also discussed in Timo Nasseri’s commissioned work It’s always night, or we wouldn’t need light (2019), tracing the starry sky with small, black stone grains, dissolving and disappearing in the course of time.

In her commissioned work The fluid body (2019), Neda Razavipour investigates the notion of inner/intimate memory and collective memory, related to her childhood spent on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

The sound and video installation documents true stories gathered by the artist from Astara to Jolfa, Iran, including tales of people separated by the Aras river border. The Aras river border has also inspired the newly commissioned video by Jaleh Nesari, who whispers verses from poet Nizami Ganjavi, well known for his masterpiece Leili and Majnun (1188), where the protagonists bemoan their forced separation.

The exhibition is curated by Farah Piriye and Anna Fech. Admission is free.

Azerbaijan will host the European Championships in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics for the first time.

World's strongest athletes will compete at the National Gymnastics Arena on May 27-31.

The senior gymnasts have the last chance to qualify for the Tokyo 2020. 

Thus, two athletes with the highest score in the qualifications, performing in the all-around and being eligible for the Olympic Games, will qualify for the Games.

The age limit for junior gymnasts is 14-18, while senior athletes should be minimum at the age of 18.

As for Technical Regulations of the European Union of Gymnastics, senior gymnasts will perform in the team finals and apparatus finals at the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics European Championships to be held this year.

Junior gymnasts will show their best in the all-around finals and apparatus finals. And the winners in team competition will be determined according to the qualification results.

The registration list of the competition's participants will be available at the end of February. The final list will be published at the end of April.

Moreover, the mascots from the US - Scott Hesington and Barry Anderson, known as the AGF’s "Gur-Gur" mascot and "Luigi" mascot of the European Championships, will visit Baku once again.

The mascots will cheer up both spectators and gymnasts.

World-famous opera singer Elchin Azizov will perform in the Russian Bolshoi Theater on March 7-8. The opera star will play Mazepa 's party in Pyotr Tchaikovsky`s opera of the same name.

Elchin Azizov has been a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater since 2008.

He has successfully performed in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta", Sergei  Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges", Georges Bizet's "Carmen", Giuseppe Verdi's  "Don Carlos" and so on.

He is the winner of the 2nd Prize of the International Opera Singers Contest of Galina Vishnevskaya (2008), and the 4th Prize of the International Opera Singers Contest of Bulbul in Baku (2005).

Together with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, he participated in the Half Way Around the World concert.

"Mazepa" is a blood-thirsty tale of crazy love, abduction, political persecution. The action takes place in Ukraine at the beginning of the 18th century. The libretto was written by Victor Burenin and is based on Pushkin's poem Poltava, part of the cultural legacy of Mazepa.

Oscar-winning actor Kirk Douglas has died aged 103, according to BBC.

The stage and screen actor was well-known for a range of roles, including the 1960 classic Spartacus, in which he played the titular character.

His son, Michael Douglas said in a statement:

"To the world he was a legend... but to me and my brothers ... he was simply Dad.

Kirk's life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet."

Imperial College London reported a significant breakthrough in the race for the coronavirus vaccine, which emerged in China and has swept through the world.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that a leading British scientist reduced a part of the average development time from “two to three years to just 14 days."

Robin Shattock, Head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, said he is now at the stage to start testing the vaccine on animals as early as next week with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured, Sky said.

“Conventional approaches usually take at least two to three years before you even get to the clinic,” he told Sky. “And we’ve gone from that sequence to generating a candidate in the laboratory in 14 days.”

The vaccine may be applied for treating people already this summer if there is enough funding.

An extraordinary meeting of foreign affairs ministers of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS) opens in Baku today on Feb. 6.

The ministers of foreign affairs of the states are already in Baku.

The meeting of foreign ministers of the CCTS was held in Baku on October 13-14, 2019. The seventh meeting of the council was held on October 15-16, 2019.

CCTS is an international organization, uniting Turkic states. The council was created on October 3, 2009 in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.