The Seven Beauties exhibition, dedicated to the works of the 12th century Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, opened in Moscow. The exposition is presented in the halls of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art. About 60 exhibits, glorifying the culture of Azerbaijan in various aspects, are represented at the exhibition. This is a synthesis of carpets, jewelry, miniatures, national classical music, classical dance and modern art.
The thinker and the poet was born in the ancient city of Ganja. He is best known for his five poems Khamsa - after the author's death, the quintet of his poems was called Panj Ganj. The fourth part of the work is the story of the marriage of Shah Bahram to seven beautiful women, princesses from different countries of the Earth. The girls, like Scheherazade, tell the ruler instructive tales. The exhibition gives the feeling of immersion into the magical world.
"Conceptually, the exhibition gives you the impression that you get inside an old book and stroll through all these seven palaces, learn about these tales told by seven beauties. Here you can see palace exhibits from the collection of the Carpet Museum, magnificent carpets, jewelry from our gold fund ", the project curator, director of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, chairman of the ICOM Azerbaijan National Committee Shirin Melikova said.
All Tabriz miniatures are presented in a multimedia format for the first time.
For centuries, the poetry of Nizami has inspired the works of many artists. Kara Karayev, an outstanding Azerbaijani composer, is among them. The year 2018 is declared the year of his 100th birthday anniversary. Kara Karayev’s ballet The Seven Beauties is in the golden fund of the world musical heritage. ”In this ballet, Kara Karayev showed the beauties being not so mythical and mystical. He revived them, showed a beautiful palace life. I advise you to watch the ballet. It’s really very beautiful," the project curator, an adviser to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for Culture and Art, Emin Mamedov said.
The journey to the fascinating world of Nizami opens with the installation of conceptual artist Rashad Alekperov.
“This is a classic Azerbaijani miniature of Sultan Mohammed - a young man reading a book. Sometimes people lack this, they don’t read books,” Rashad Alekperov explains.
The vernissage was visited by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the head of the Foundation’s representative office in Russia, Leyla Aliyeva.
Speaking at the solemn ceremony, she stressed that true art knows no boundaries, “This is the timeless creativity. This is something that is sent to us from heaven to help a person to become better, penetrate into the depths of his soul and open the highest strength in himself - love."
Director of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative Art Elena Titova told about the cooperation with the Azerbaijani Carpet Museum, where the project was implemented, and expressed gratitude to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the opportunity to present the exhibition to Muscovites: “The exhibition is oriental, refined, with a deep philosophical meaning and a fascinating design solution. These are modern technologies, the richest history, the skill of artists. "
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbul oglu called the exhibition a landmark event in the history of relations between the two countries and thanked Leyla Aliyeva for her active assistance and participation.
The exhibition is organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani Carpet Museum. The exposition is welcoming visitors until February 3, and then begins its journey to St. Petersburg, Baku and other cities.
