NEWS

Baku Street Photo Festival (BSPF) has displayed stunning works of the Honored Cultural Worker Farid Khairulin (1947-2020), known as one of the best contemporary photographers.

The exhibition took place at the Shirvanshahs' Palace, showcasing over 40 works from the photographer's personal archive, Trend Life reported.

The event was supported by the Icherisheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve, Icherisheher Museum Center, the Russian Information and Cultural Center in Baku and the Culture Ministry's Museum Center.

Public and cultural figures, famous photographers, friends and family members of Farid Khairulin paid tribute to the photographer.

The event was attended by the head of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Baku Irek Zinnurov, Honored Art Worker, fashion designer Fakhriya Khalafova, Honored Artists Irina Eldarova and Zaur Kantemirov, the founders of the conceptual doll and doll as an art object in Azerbaijan's contemporary art Parviz Huseynov and Irina Gundorina.

The evening was hosted by the Azerbaijani radio and TV presenter, Honored Cultural Worker Rahib Azeri, who spoke about his friendship with Farid Khairulin.  

Speaking about the photographer, Rahib Azeri stressed his role in Azerbaijan`s photography.

The TV presenter and Farid Khairulin often met at Baku Jazz Festivals. One day, the photographer invited him to his photo studio. Rahib Azeri was amazed by the works of the contemporary photographer.

Director of the Icherisheher Museum Center, Honored Cultural Worker Amina Melikova stressed that it is no coincidence that the evening in memory of Farid Khairulin is held in Icherisheher, because he loved this place so much.

"Farid Khairulin was very intelligent person. His appearance at various events has always attracted attention. It was impossible not to notice him. Today we all really miss Farid Khairulin," said Melikova.

Honored Art worker, cameraman Rafig Gambarov shared his memories of Farid Khairulin, with whom he was friends for over 50 years.

"He was a unique photojournalist, yes, a photojournalist, because he wrote texts for his photographs. Farid Khairulin himself did not like the word  photographer. Now we can enjoy his photographers at this exhibition. Every photo keeps a piece of his heart and soul," he added.

Next, the head of the YARAT cultural programs department Ulviya Akhundova, photographer Fakhriya Mammadova, Ph.D. in art history Narmina Aghasi and others shared their memories of Farid Khairulin and spoke about his photography art.

Over his creative activity Farid Khairulin was always in the midst of stormy events, made photo reports on numerous foreign trips, covering important international events in many countries. He visited such hot spots as Shusha, Khankendi, Aghdam, and Khojaly.

The photographer captured the Black January tragedy. Khairulin collaborated with many media outlets, including TASS and Reuters.

Farid Khairulin was a member of the Union of Journalists and the Union of Artists, the Azerbaijani Photographers Association. He is a laureate of the Hasan bey Zardabi Prize, Humay and Golden Argus prizes and many other awards.

Over his life, Khairulin took part in numerous republican and foreign photo exhibitions.

His personal photo exhibitions opened in Russia, Morocco, China, Iran, Switzerland, Germany, Cuba, Mexico, etc.

Khairulin was a member of the board of the Union of Photographers and the Union of Journalists of the USSR. 

Khairulin's works adorn public and private galleries in Germany, Israel, USA, Great Britain, Russia and others.

His ecological series "Paying for Oil" was the first piece of photographic art that got into a museum under the Department of Ecology of the British Foreign Office - before that, only paintings were exhibited there.

The exhibition will run until September 5.

Azerbaijani First Deputy Culture Minister Vagif Aliyev and Chairman of the Georgian State Agency For Religious Issues Zaza Vashakmadze have discussed prospects of cooperation between the two countries and the rehabilitation of cultural monuments in Azerbaijan's liberated lands.

At a meeting held in Baku, Aliyev emphasized that the Azerbaijani-Georgian bilateral ties have a rich history and are successfully developing in various fields. 

He stressed the importance of a number of important global economic projects implemented as part of bilateral partnerships.

The Azerbaijani first deputy minister expressed gratitude to Georgia for its political support to Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Aliyev briefed Vashakmadze about the looting of Azerbaijan's settlements, the destruction of the country's cultural institutions and historical monuments by Armenia for almost 30 years. 

He underlined that President Ilham Aliyev had set tasks to the Azerbaijani state agencies to carry out large-scale construction work on the liberated territories. 

The Azerbaijan Culture Ministry is currently actively engaged in the rehabilitation of historical and cultural monuments and the construction of new cultural facilities that meet modern standards in the liberated lands. 

At the same time, it is especially important to inform international organizations about the Armenian-committed crimes against the Azerbaijani nation's cultural heritage on these territories.

For his purpose, Azerbaijan actively cooperates with UNESCO, ICESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations and other international agencies.

Moreover, Aliyev praised the high level of cultural ties with Georgia and added that the Georgian representatives actively participate in various international festivals and competitions annually held in Azerbaijan.

He also touched on issues discussed by Culture Minister Anar Karimov's trip to Georgia on July 6-9. 

Vashakmadze expressed his satisfaction with his first official visit to Azerbaijan and congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the Karabakh war victory. He thanked Azerbaijan for recognizing and supporting Georgia's territorial integrity at all international levels.

The chairman of the Georgian State Agency for Religious Issues said that Georgia is as multicultural as Azerbaijan and that different peoples live there. He pointed out that the Georgian government cares for citizens of different religions.

In conclusion, Vashakmadze expressed his confidence that the bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Georgia will continue to successfully develop in various areas. 

The EU Delegation in Azerbaijan is pleased to present the "European Fairy Tales" project.

The collection of fairy tales will be presented to various orphanages, shelters as well as kids libraries in Azerbaijan.

"This book will help children in Azerbaijan to learn about different nations of Europe, discover their roots and traditions as well as European values," the delegation said in a statement.

 Along with the print version, the EU Delegation in partnership with the Embassies of EU Member States prepared video versions of the fairy-tales narrated by Ambassadors and other representatives of the Embassies and dubbed in the Azerbaijani language by professional actors.

Ramiz Mustafayev's opera "Vagif" has been released on world music platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Yandex Music, Tidal, etc. 

The opera "Vagif" was prepared by Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater conducted by Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev. 

The work was released on all music platforms tp promote Azerbaijani classical music abroad.

Moreover, the opera has been released  on flash cards, the presentation of which is planned in the post-pandemic period.

Molla Panah Vagif is considered the founder of the realism genre in the Azerbaijani poetry. Vagif's poems have had a great influence on Azerbaijani folklore. Most of them are repeatedly used in the folk music of ashiqs. 

As vizier, Vagif did much for the prosperity and political growth of the Karabakh khanate. Also, he played an important role in organizing the defense of Shusha during the incursions of Aga Muhammad shah Qajar of Persia in 1795 and 1797.

His verses were collected for the first time in 1856 and published by Mirza Yousif Nersesov.

Soon afterwards, his verses were published by Adolf Berge in Leipzig in 1867 with the assistance of the Azerbaijani playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov. 

The mausoleum on the grave of the Azerbaijani poet and statesman was built through instructions of the national leader Heydar Aliyev in 1982.

It is located in the southwestern part of Shusha, by the Jydyr Duzu plain, where the poet was killed and is a part of Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve. 

The mausoleum was constructed built by sculptor A. Mustafayev based on the design by a member of the National Academy of Sciences Abdul Vakhav Salamzade and well-known architect E.I. Kanukov. 

The design of the mausoleum follows the pattern of Azerbaijani mausoleums architectural compositions such as Nizami Mausoleum in Ganja. It rises to 18 meters in height.

The bottom part of the monument is built with reddish Karabakh marble plates, white and grey marble.

Aluminium is used for the decoration pattern in the entire length of the mausoleum. The poet's name was engraved above the entrance door.

As a result of Armenian aggression, Molla Panah Vagif Mausoleum has been heavily damaged in Shusha.  

The complex building and dozens of exhibits contained there were destroyed after the occupation of Shusha by Armenia in 1992. Some transportable exhibits were carried to Armenia.

In 2021, Molla Panah Vagif Mausoleum has been renovated. Vagif's Poetry Days are being held in front of the mausoleum. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyev took part in the opening ceremony of the  Vagif's Poetry Days.

Baku's most anticipated jazz festival is back and you won't want to miss what it has in store for you this year.

Baku Jazz Festival 2021 will take place in Baku on September 10-18, bringing together jazz musicians from Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Turkey, Russia, Israel and Luxembourg.

The festival will be held in a slightly different format. A number of seats for visitors has been reduced amid the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, only people with COVID passport can attend the festival. 

Along with foreign guests, Azerbaijani jazzmen will perform at the festival, including Honored Artists Rain Sultanov, Shahin Novrasli, Isfar Sarabski, musicians Elbay Mamedzade, Elvin Bashirov and many others.

Moreover, master classes and film screenings in open areas will also be held as part of the festival. 

Baku Jazz Festival 2021 is ready to present a unique art project that unites such talented artists as Bahram Khalilov, Ramina Saadatkhan, Huseyn Khagverdiyev.

For more than 15 years, Baku Jazz Festival has become an essential part of the country's musical life.

The musical event is organized by acclaimed saxophonist Rain Sultanov to showcase Azerbaijan's long-running attachment to jazz. 

The first ever Baku Jazz Festival was held in 2005 since then it has grown to be widely recognized as one of the country's leading festivals.

Baku Jazz Festival and related advertisements are broadcasted in Euronews TV channel. In 2006, it was included in the list of the top biggest jazz festivals worldwide.

Since 2017, the festival joins the Europe Jazz Network. Baku Jazz Festival is also a member of UNESCO International Jazz Day Celebration.

The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles produced a short film in English on Azerbaijani hostages, missing persons and prisoners of war.

The film mentions that in the early 1990s Armenia invaded 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory and expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis from their ancestral villages and towns. It states that amid the ethnic cleansing of invaded territories, Armenian troops often besieged Azerbaijani villages, killing many civilians and taking others as hostages. In this vein, the film shows a rare video of the California-born Armenian terrorist Monte Melkonian and his accomplices in Kalbajar in April 1993, who giggled and performed celebratory gunfire, as they besieged an Azerbaijani village and threatened the civilians.

It is mentioned that Azerbaijani hostages and prisoners of war (POWs) were subjected to horrendous cruelty in Armenian torture camps.

Around 4,000 Azerbaijanis are still missing, including 719 civilians, among them, 326 elderly, 267 women and 71 children, and their fate remains unknown.

The film notes that after Azerbaijan liberated its territories in 2020 from Armenia’s 30-year long illegal occupation, the first mass grave of Azerbaijani civilians, who were murdered by Armenian troops, was found in the liberated district of Kalbajar.

In the end, the film stresses that Armenia still refuses to provide any information about 4,000 missing Azerbaijani civilians and soldiers.

The film has also been translated into other official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) and disseminated on social media on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared (August 30).

Considering the importance of short films in the current social media age, the Consulate General has produced 26 films on different topics about Azerbaijan since 2019. Some of them have been translated into other languages too.

The Vagif Poetry Days have been organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the native city of the poet for the first time after the liberation of Shusha from occupation.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the official opening ceremony of the Vagif Poetry Days.

President Ilham Aliyev had a cordial conversation with participants and residents of Shusha as part the opening of the Vagif Poetry Days in Shusha.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Writers Union, People's writer Anar is happy to see today's events in Azerbaijan’s Shusha city, Trend reports.

"We are experiencing great joy today," Anar told reporters within the Vagif Poetry Days held in Shusha city. "The day we have been waiting for has come. Shusha has been liberated. Now Vagif's soul is also free. I am happy to witness these events and I am grateful for this."

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation organized the Vagif Poetry Days again in the hometown of great poet Molla Panah Vagif for the first time after the Armenian occupation of Shusha city.

The bust of Molla Panah Vagif was unveiled on August 29. The complex of the museum-mausoleum of the genius Azerbaijani poet also opened after the restoration.

Baku Street Photo Festival (BSPF) is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Honored Cultural Worker Farid Khairulin (1947-2020), known as one of the best contemporary photographer.

The exhibition will take place at the Shirvanshahs' Palace from August 30 to September 5, showcasing over 40 works from the photographer's personal archive.

The event is supported by the Icherisheher  State Historical and Architectural Reserve, Icherisheher Museum Center, the Russian Information and Cultural Cente in Baku and the Culture Ministry`s Museum Center.

Over his creative activity Farid Khairulin was always in the midst of stormy events, made photo reports on numerous foreign trips, covering important international events in many countries. He visited such hot spots as Shusha, Khankendi, Aghdam, Khojaly.

The photographer captured the Black January tragedy. Khairulin collaborated with many media outlets, including TASS and Reuters.

Farid Khairulin was a member of the Union of Journalists and the Union of Artists, the Azerbaijani Photographers Association. He is a laureate of the Hasan bey Zardabi Prize, Humay and Golden Argus prizes and many other awards.

Over his life, Khairulin took part in numerous republican and foreign photo exhibitions.

His personal photo exhibitions opened in Russia, Morocco, China, Iran, Switzerland, Germany, Cuba, Mexico, etc.

Khairulinwas a member of the board of the Union of Photographers and the Union of Journalists of the USSR. 

Khairulin's works adorn public and private galleries in Germany, Israel, USA, Great Britain, Russia and others.

His ecological series "Paying for Oil" was the first piece of photographic art that got into a museum under the Department of Ecology of the British Foreign Office - before that, only paintings were exhibited there.

An  evening in memory of the photographer will be held at the Shirvanshahs' Palace on August 30.

The event will be attended by famous photographers,  friends and family members of Farid Khairulin.

The event is by invitation only. 

The event will also be available via Zoom and the festival's YouTube page.

The entrance to the exhibition is free. Opening hours: 10:00 - 19:00.

Vagif's Poetry Days will take place in Shusha city on August 30. 

The cultural event will be held for the first time in the poet's native city after its liberation from Armenian occupation. 

Literary symposiums, exhibitions and colorful performances will be organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation as part of the event. 

Vagif's Poetry Days will be held in front of the Molla Panah Vagif Museum-Mausoleum complex and will last  for two days.

Molla Panah Vagif is considered the founder of the realism genre in the Azerbaijani poetry. Vagif's poems have had a great influence on Azerbaijani folklore. Most of them are repeatedly used in the folk music of ashiqs. 

As vizier, Vagif did much for the prosperity and political growth of the Karabakh khanate. Also, he played an important role in organizing the defense of Shusha during the incursions of Aga Muhammad shah Qajar of Persia in 1795 and 1797.

His verses were collected for the first time in 1856 and published by Mirza Yousif Nersesov.

Soon afterwards, his verses were published by Adolf Berge in Leipzig in 1867 with the assistance of the Azerbaijani playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov. 

The mausoleum on the grave of the Azerbaijani poet and statesman was built through instructions of the national leader Heydar Aliyev in 1982.

It is located in the southwestern part of Shusha, by the Jydyr Duzu plain, where the poet was killed and is a part of Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve. 

The mausoleum was constructed built by sculptor A. Mustafayev based on the design by a member of the National Academy of Sciences Abdul Vakhav Salamzade and well-known architect E.I. Kanukov. 

The design of the mausoleum follows the pattern of Azerbaijani mausoleums architectural compositions such as Nizami Mausoleum in Ganja. It rises to 18 meters in height.

The bottom part of the monument is built with reddish Karabakh marble plates, white and grey marble.

Aluminium is used for the decoration pattern in the entire length of the mausoleum. The poet's name was engraved above the entrance door.

As a result of Armenian aggression, Molla Panah Vagif Mausoleum has been heavily damaged in Shusha.  

The complex building and dozens of exhibits contained there were destroyed after the occupation of Shusha by Armenia in 1992. Some transportable exhibits were carried to Armenia.