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“Fly to Baku: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan” exhibition opened in Paris, organized and supported by Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the English edition of “Baku” magazine.

Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Vice-President of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the event, along with the Minister of Culture and Communications of France, Frédéric Mitterrand  

After London, the “Fly to Baku: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan” exhibition opened in Paris. Billboards in Paris's main streets demonstrated the interest in the exhibition. 

The exhibition - of special significance among the events the Heydar Aliyev Foundation holds to support Azerbaijan’s international promotion, was held at Salomon de Rothschild mansion in Paris. It's a fact which once again shows that the promotion of the national culture is a priority to First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice-President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mrs Leyla Aliyeva. 

Set up on the initiative of Mrs Leyla Aliyeva, the exhibition can be assessed as a successful presentation of the contemporary art of Azerbaijan inspired by the connection of Eastern and Western cultures. 

Addressing the event, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mrs Leyla Aliyeva said the dynamism and creative spirit of the works displayed in the exhibition reflect a huge part of what is going on in Azerbaijan today. “My country is in the era of unprecedented development and this is very noticeable in the sphere of modern art.”, Mrs Aliyeva mentioned. She talked of Azerbaijan's long history - “Baku” magazine that is on sale in Paris, stressing the magazine contains works by young artists as well. 

Speaking about the works and artists featured in the exhibition, Mrs Aliyeva said: 

“Twenty-one artists from Azerbaijan are presented here. Some of them are young, in the beginning of this activity, some are famous dealing with that for long. Over 100 works of us – videos, installations, paintings, performances and photographs are exhibited here. The interesting aspect is that majority of these works have been created for “Fly to Baku” exhibition and are exhibited for the first time. We are going to hold this exhibition all around Europe, hope we will organize it also in New York and the exhibition will be summed up in Baku. 

Mentioning that Baku will host the Eurovision Song Contest in May, Mrs Aliyeva invited the participants of the ceremony to Baku. 

Curator of the exhibition Herve Mikaeloff noted the collection in the exhibition is rich, and the pieces have an original approach. He said that Azerbaijani art has deep historical roots and such events help popularize the country. He expressed gratitude to First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice-President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. 

First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva and Minister of Culture and Communications of France Frédéric Mitterrand saw the exhibition. 

The exhibition also features a number of works such as “Pomegranate”, “Pomegranate Tree”, “Life Goes On” by Heydar Aliyev Foundation VP Leyla Aliyeva, which aroused great interest among visitors. Her illustrations of fairy tales will be published in Russian and English in a fairy tale book “Once Upon a Time”. 

Original in idea and style, the works by young artist Aida Mahmudova also attracted attention of the visitors. She describes the stories and feelings she lived in the past in the present time. 

The exhibition features also works of painting, graphics, sculpture, photography and video by 21 authors, including Altay Sadygzadeh, Enver Esgerov, Mirnadir Zeynalov. Dominated by vanguard style, these original works illustrate the uniqueness of modern art of Azerbaijan. Displaying an original style, interesting thought and fragile spirit, the exhibition reflects the non-traditional technologies of expression. 

The exhibition demonstrates the works by artists who have represented Azerbaijan at the Venice Biennale over different years, young painters living in foreign countries, artists whose works have been exhibited in influential international events. Azerbaijan has nurtured a lot of young talents in the past years, arising from governmental attention to the younger generation, as well as the many successful projects Heydar Aliyev Foundation implements to promote gifted youth. 

Works in the exhibition demonstrate once again that the opportunities of art are unlimited and infinite. The exhibition manifested the support and attention Azerbaijan gives to culture, art and artists, Azerbaijan's favourable conditions for the development of culture, and the measures implemented to provide free creativity opportunities to those working in culture and art. 

Thus, the exhibition in Paris was the next opportunity to demonstrate the unique culture of Azerbaijan. Hundreds of foreign citizens admired the rich and magic world of Azerbaijani culture. Interest in this large-scale and multifacetted exhibition - which will last till April 21 - left unforgettably rich impressions on the cultural life of Paris. Analogous exhibitions will be held in Moscow, Berlin, Rome, New-York and Baku.