NEWS

Tourism Alliance will be created in Azerbaijan through the cooperation of business councils between Russia and Azerbaijan, Board Chairman of the Azerbaijan-Russian Business Council Samad Gurbanov said.

Gurbanov made the remark in Baku at a meeting of the business council, Trend reports on Dec. 11.

“The alliance will be led by Chief Executive Officer of PASHA Travel company Anar Rahmanov, and the meeting of the tourism commission of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council will be held at the beginning of the next year,” the board chairman said.

Touching upon the cooperation between the countries, the board chairman stressed the priority of economic relations and the importance of the activity of the Council in their intensification.

The seventh meeting of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council since early 2019 was held in Baku on Dec. 11.

Google 2019 year in search named the top ten destinations for flight searches, which saw Madrid and Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, crowned one and two respectively, Report informs citing The Sun.

This is thanks in part to the football finals being hosted in the two cities.

Madrid hosted the Champions League final, which saw Tottenham go head to head with Liverpool in the Spanish capital.

Flights to the capital soared to over £1,000 due to the popularity of the game, with many fans left disappointed.

Baku had a similar story - it hosted the Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea.

All of the destinations in Google's UK top trending city breaks list are in Europe.

In number one is Venice, which was  ravaged by floods just last month.

Coming in second was Krakow, one of the cheapest cities for a holiday, while in number three was Berlin, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.

Also in the list is Dublin in fourth place, Amsterdam in fifth and Paris in sixth.

Spain has two cities in the top ten - Barcelona in seventh and Madrid in tenth.

And London and Prague are eighth and ninth  respectively.

The third festival of experimental theaters "2 + 1" has ended in Baku . The festival was co-organized by Azerbaijan Theater Workers Union and the Ministry of Culture, Trend Life reported.

In his speech, Chairman of  the Theater Workers Union, People's Artist Azer Pasha Nematov stressed that the festival aims to discover talented directors, actors, artists and composers and provide them a platform for experiments, Trend Life reported.

People’s Artist Haji Ismayilov, deputy chairman of Theater Workers Union  said that over the 9 days  about 18  performances were presented at Abbas Mirza Sharifzade's House of Actors. He noted that the festival disclosed the creative potential of the country's theaters.

In conclusion,  the prizes were presented to Ganja State Puppet Theater, State University of Culture and Arts, Agdam State Drama Theater, Gusar State Lezgi Drama Theater, Baku Children's Theater. Another participants were awarded with diplomas.

Theater development in Azerbaijani culture has a very rich history, which begins with the theatrical elements of open-air folk performances, religious ceremonies and much more.

Azerbaijani theater originated in the second half of the 19th century, with the comedy "The Vizier of Lankaran khanate" by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, the first Azerbaijani playwright, prominent thinker and philosopher.

First amateur performances staged by students of non-classical secondary school by initiative of Hasan-bay Zardabi and with the active participation of the Najaf-bay Vezirov and Alakbar Adigozalov became a powerful impetus for the establishment of the national theater.

There are a number of theaters in Azerbaijan:

Ganja State Puppet Theater

The theater building was built in 1885 as a Lutheran church and lately was converted into Ganja State Puppet Theater.

For many years, the theater delights its viewers with colorful performances. The theater has performed at numerous festivals in Turkey, Iran and other countries.

University of Culture and Arts

Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts was founded in 1923 on the basis of the Baku Theatrical College. It is Azerbaijan's main state-funded institution of higher education in performing arts.

Aghdam State Drama Theater

The theater in Aghdam was created in 1902 and began its activities with Mirza Fatali Akhundov's play "The Vizier of  Lankaran khanate" and Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev's play "The broken nest".

In 1968, by order of the Cabinet of Ministers, the theater was renamed to the Agdam State Drama Theater named after Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev.

Works of such famous play writers as Samad Vurgun, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Suleyman Rustam were staged at the theater.

Over the years, many well-known directors worked in the theater including Honored Workers of Culture Heydar Shamsizade, Rafig Atakishiyev, Vagif Sharifov,  Adalat Ziyadkhanov, and others.

Gusar State Lezgi Drama Theater

The theater began its activity with Guilherme Figueiredo`s play.

In 2016, the theater successfully toured the city of Derbent. Dagestan State Lazgi Musical Drama Theater staged the play "Pearl" (Sedef) of the Honored Art Worker, playwright Asaf Mehman.

The theater troupe was awarded the diplomas by the Derbent city administration.

Baku Children's Theater

The theater was established in 2001. It has implemented projects such as "Our Theater Festival I", "Our Theater Festival II", and "The Turkish Peoples Theater".

The theater successfully cooperates with relevant international organizations including International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the Council of Europe.

Nearly 70 child specialists work at the theater. To date, the theater has created about 100 artistic performances.

In November 2009, a theater studio for children with special needs in Baku Children's Theater was established.

The studio performed within the framework of the 4th National Festival of Contemporary Performances of Children's and Youth with Disabilities which was held in Azerbaijan and at the 2nd International Youth Festival for People with Disabilities in Moscow, where it was awarded a diploma.

Memory of jazz legend Vagif Mustafazade will be honored. A series of events timed to the musician's the 40th death  anniversary will be held in Baku.

A memorable evening will be held at Vagif Mustafazade House-Museum on December 16.

Works of Vagif Mustafazade and his daughter Aziza Mustafazade will be performed by the students of Baku Academy of Music.

The presentation of the disc "Jazz Mugham", published in Moscow (Russia), will take place.

Head of Vagif Mustafazade Cultural and Charitable Fund Afag Aliyeva told Trend Life that four more music albums will be presented with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

The first album will feature music pieces performed by "Seville", the second  one includes the works of Tofig Guliyev edited by Vagif Mustafazade.

The third album is "Jazz improvisations" includes all the hits of the musician.

The fourth disc "Dedication" contains his best works and includes George Gershwin’s composition "The Man I Love." Vagif Mustafazade was only 9 years old when he first performed this work.

Vagif Mustafazade is the founder of Azerbaijani jazz mugham movement that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Baku, as a result of the mixture of these two styles.

Throughout years, he wrote numerous jazz compositions, including fugues, preludes, ballads and scherzos, many of them written in the 1970s. He released a total of eight albums, all with different line-ups, mood and style.

By the beginning of 1960s, Vagif was gaining recognition outside of Azerbaijan.

Winner of numerous jazz festivals such as "Tallinn-66", "Tallinn-67", Baku festival "Jazz 69", Donetsk 1977 festival, and "Tbilisi-78", Vagif Mustafazadeh always fascinated listeners with his originality and virtuosity.

Musician's death was a shock to many people. He was only 39 years old when he died on stage while performing in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in 1979.

Jazz schools around the world have recognized Vagif Mustafazadeh as a phenomenal musician. His works represent a unique combination of eastern and western schools, of tradition and innovation.

On December 9, the Ambassador of Mexico, Rodrigo Labardini, visited Khazar University, where he met with the Rector of the University Ms. Irada Khalilova.

Ambassador Labardini held a meeting with Rector Irada Khalilova to exchange opinions and explore possibilities aimed to develop educational relations between the two countries. Rector Khalilova informed the Ambassador about the University´s study programs, faculties, departments and specialized centers. The rector underlined the activities and events organized by the educational institution and highlighted the active participation of the students.

Ambassador Labardini informed about the activities carried out by the Embassy to promote the development of relations between the two countries. In this context, he highlighted the importance of contacts between educational institutions in Mexico and Azerbaijan.

After the meeting, Ambassador Labardini conducted a presentation, for a group of 40 students, about Mexico and the bilateral relations with Azerbaijan in the fields of education, tourism, economy and trade. He also noted that this year, the volume of products exported from Mexico to Azerbaijan reached a record number, as a result of the exports of sugar cane, vehicles, freezing equipment, beer and tequila to Azerbaijan. Among these products, 12% of beer, 18% of drill bits and drill pipes, 9% of tubes for the oil industry and 6% of 1500-3000 cm3 vehicles imported to Azerbaijan are from Mexico. He emphasized that, during January-September 2019, the highest trade flow between both countries was recorded, which reached $42.8 million in 2019, 64.38% more than the total trade in 2018.

He also underlined the increase of tourists between both countries. The number of Azerbaijani tourists who visited Mexico increased 20%, while Mexican tourists who visited Azerbaijan increased 9%. In addition, he addressed the activities carried out by the Embassy and extended an invitation to the students to attend the events organized by the Diplomatic Representation.

The students expressed their interest in the presentation by asking several questions and comments.

Due to the increase in passenger traffic, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC has purchased two more passenger trains of the Stadler Rail Group company, Natavan Bayramova, the company’s spokesperson, told Trend.

The trains will be operated on the routes of Baku-Pirshagi and Baku-Sumgait, Bayramova noted.

The commissioning of one of the trains is expected in late December, the second - in early January.

The trains have been produced in accordance with the latest technologies and fully meet all modern standards.

“There are 371 seats in railcars; nine of them are first class, 62 - business class and 307 are standard seats,” said Bayramova.

To date, seven trains of this type, manufactured by the Stadler Rail Group, have been in operation, and now this number has reached nine.

Colorful festival "Journey to the Carpetland" has been held at National Carpet Museum.

A two-day festival was timed to the 10th anniversary of the museum's kids department.

The project was co-organized by the Cultural Ministry and National Carpet Museum.

At the event, director of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Honored Worker of Culture Shirin Melikova noted that the museum's kids department was the first in the country, Trend Life reported.

"Our goal was to familiarize children with national values, spiritual heritage, culture. And work in this direction is already bearing fruit," said Melikova.

She stressed that the museum has turned into a favorite place to relax among youth. A number of young visitors is also growing every year.

More than three hundred kids, including the dance group of the Center for Children and Youth Development No. 3, Nur Kids Choir Studio actors of the Chichyayim Kids Theater, Azeri Ingilari dance group attended the festival.

The guests viewed art works by members of the art circle of the museum's kids department.

An employee of the Embassy of Egypt, Kamala Iskandarova, read wonderful Egyptian tales to kids. The little guests also took part in master classes on souvenir rugs, soft toys, New Year's cards, lint-free shedde rugs, etc.

The event featured performances of "The Tale of Malikmamed", "Shangyulum, Shungyulum, Mangyulum" and "Carpet Dispute", quizzes and much more.

The festival's guests met with the author of the kids book "Magic Monuments of Azerbaijan", famous architect Elchin Aliyev, the writer of the book "On the Beach"  Lala Malik and the author of the illustrations for this publication, Irina Eldarova.

The participants took part in the art therapy session by the specialist of the Georgian National Gestalt Institute Zaira Nadirashvili and music therapy training led by artistic director of the kids studio choir, conductor Malak Velizade.

The festival's second day was marked by a colorful carnival. The event continued with the  performance of the kids dance collective of the Baku Center for Russian Culture, the selection of the best costumes in the nominations for Miss Carnival and Mr. Carnival and much more.

Young guests were presented with gifts, including from Azersun Holding.

As part of the festival, a charity fair was organized jointly by the embassies of Egypt, Iran, Hungary and Montenegro, Gulsam Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Association and members of the museum's kids department.

All funds raised will be transferred to the bank accounts of kids who need treatment.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az.

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

The museum was founded by Latif Karimov – an outstanding scientist and carpet weaver, the founder of the science of Azerbaijan Carpet Weaving Art, artist and teacher, author of the fundamental work of national carpet.

The museum itself 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.

Azerbaijani pastries have enjoyed great success at the World of Food 2019 Culinary Festival held in Abu Dhabi. 

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Culinary Guild Ilkin Akbarzade delighted sweet lovers with 55 national desserts.

The festival's guests enjoyed various kinds of shakarbura, pakhlava and much more.

As part of the festival, chefs from 56 countries presented 2586 desserts at the world's largest table of national sweets. This was officially confirmed by Guinness World Records.

"I am proud of this achievement that Azerbaijan represented in World of Food, and together with our national sweets entered the Guinness Book of Records. This is a great achievement for our country and national culinary," Akbarzade told Trend Life.

Pastries hold a special place on the table of many Azerbaijanis.Sweet, savory, tangy – whichever your pick, you're sure to find something exciting to tickle your taste buds. So, if you are a sweet tooth you won't be disappointed. 

Nothing quite satisfies the sweet tooth like the taste of shakarbura. This sweet pastry is filled with ground almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts, and sugar.

Pakhlava is another festive dessert made for spring holiday.The pastry is made of paper-thin layers, chopped nuts and honey.

Each country's region has its own special recipe for pakhlava.

For example, Ganja pakhlava is characterized by its stuffing prepared of almond, sugar and cinnamon, baking on a copper tray over a campfire and consisting of 18 layers of pastry.

Badambura is an unbelievably delicious treat. This multilayered pastry is filled with almonds meal, sugar, and ground cardamom.

"The Steppe Man", a film by the Azerbaijani director Shamil Aliyev, has been successfully screened at Nazareth Festival-2019 in Israel.

The film won the prize in "Best Feature Film" nomination.

As part of the festival, the film "Stepnyak" was presented to the viewers in Afula.

Nazareth Festival serves to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the world. The festival brought together filmmakers from more than 60 countries.

"The Steppe Man" was produced in 2012 at Azerbaijanfilm studio by the order of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The film has been screened at many international film festivals such as Florence Film Awards 2019 (Italy), European Screen Awards 2019 (Indonesia), White Unicorn International Film Festival 2019 (WUIFF) and others.

It was named "Best Feature Film" seven times. The film also won in such nominations as "Best Director", "Best Screenplay", "Best Female Actor", "Creative Search". “The Steppe Man” received a number of special diplomas and prizes, including the "Humay" national prize.

"The Steppe Man" was selected as the Azerbaijani entry for the "Best Foreign Language Film" at the 86th Academy Awards (the Oscars).

The scriptwriter of the film is Vidadi Hasanov, the director of photography is Rafig Guliyev, art directors are Rafig Nasirov and Ibrahim Halil Aminov, the composer is Rauf Aliyev, and producers are Mushvig Hatamov and Azer Guliyev.

The film tells a story of a young steppe man who lives in remoteness from the city, closely tied to nature. His father teaches him the subtleties of life in the steppe.

Soon after his father's death the young man meets a girl from a city. Their meeting becomes a new page in his life, a step to a big life unfamiliar to him before.

The next meeting of the high-level group on the Caspian Sea will be held in August 2020, Report informs citing Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin, who spoke at the 18th meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia.

The Minister noted that Russia is actively preparing for it and Astrakhan was chosen as the venue.