On December 27, inauguration of an exhibition called “Doll in art” took place at the Heydar Aliyev Centre.

Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the inauguration.

Speaking at the exhibition’s inauguration ceremony, Director of the Heydar Aliyev Centre Anar Alakbarov said the year 2016, which is coming to an end, will be remembered for the Centre with numerous events. He underscored that these events included conferences, symposiums, seminars, concerts and, of course, a number of exhibitions presented by the Heydar Aliyev Centre. A.Alakbarov said: “The administrative building of the Centre is distinguished by its original features, and is one of the rare buildings in the world. For this reason, Great Britain’s Institute of Architects entered, this year, the building of the Centre on the list of the world’s best six architectural buildings. We have been using the park of the Heydar Aliyev Centre, as well as part of the newly inaugurated park, with participation of the President, for holding various events and organization of exhibitions”.

It was underscored that the collection presented today at the exhibition “Doll in art” has been collected by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation over the course of 10 years. Works of 60 artists-sculptors from 16 countries, including Azerbaijan, are displayed at the exhibition. Expressing a hope that visitors will enjoy themselves seeing the exhibits, A.Alakbarov thanked Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, as well as Vice-president of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva for the support they have provided for the exhibition’s organization.

Correspondent-member of the Russian Art Academy, deputy chairperson of the World Artists Union’s artistic doll section, doll maker-artist Alexandra Khudyakova said, in her speech, she was fascinated at the beauty of Baku. She said: “This is for the first time that I see such a high-level artistic doll exhibition. I would like to thank the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Vice-president of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva for this magnificent event. Honestly, although I’ve seen quite a lot of exhibitions so far, I see such an exposition for the first time. A doll is one of the ancient forms of a human’s representation. As a form of sculpture, doll’s history goes back to ancient times. In almost all cultures of the world, an artist created a doll. Doll is a great phenomenon. The exhibition presented at the Heydar Aliyev Centre has a great exposition. I would like to thank everyone who has made contribution to this exhibition. I would also like to convey greetings of Russian artists to all artists of Baku”. Bringing to attention that the doll section at the entity she represents was first established in 2007, Alexandra Khudyakova said the Baku exhibition testifies to the doll art’s being serious.

Member of the Azerbaijan Artists Union, Honoured Person of Culture Elmira Abbasly said this exhibition is a big holiday. A doll exhibition on this level had not been held in Baku so far. Saying that it has been her dream for long years to arrange such a large-scale exhibition in Baku, E.Abbasly thanked the leadership of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. She noted that discussions had been held during the last ten years on creating such works of art. These dolls represent both our culture and richness of our history. To create a doll and preserve such a work of art is difficult.

Rector of the Azerbaijan State Art Academy, academician Omar Eldarov said this exhibition is an interesting and rare holiday. Everything at the exhibition is nice, and as in fairy tales. At the same time, these works of art are serious and perfect examples. O.Eldarov said: “Dolls have been accompanying us from the day we were born. In the works presented at the exhibition, talks of the seniors about beauty, deep and sensitive feelings are embodied. Such a professional doll exhibition is special. In these works, the artist cannot hide his/her love for beauty. Giving love in this form, using material, is a great art. We should have a dolls museum in Baku, which would be open to visitors not during exhibitions, but always.”

At the end, visitors made themselves acquainted with the exhibition.

230 dolls, handicrafts of authors from various countries of the world, are displayed at the exhibition held with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. These art works are examples of a collection comprised of over 400 exhibits, in general.

Handicrafts of well-known artists-doll-makers from Azerbaijan, USA, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus, France, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Russia, North Cyprus, Indonesia, Ukraine and Japan are represented at the exhibition.

Majority of the art works displayed at the exhibition have been made in one copy, and have high artistic value. Most of these works won prizes at international doll festivals and biennales.

Along with dolls made of porcelain, paper, plastic, wood and fabric, dolls created using state-of-the-art technology are also presented at the exhibition. Dolls at the exhibition have been arranged by 11 different themes. At the exhibition, one can make himself acquainted with dress history, comic characters, holiday images, residents of Icherisheher, fairy tale characters, wood dolls, and exhibits in other topics.

Each exhibit here immortalizes one history - characters of the famous Azerbaijani movie “If not that one, then this one”, comic characters of the Italian popular show “Commedia dell’Arte” Colombina and Pulcinella, characters of works loved as “Rosy Sails”, world-renowned actresses Vera Kholodnaya, Greta Garbo, violin player Rodion, photographer Phoma and others. Made by authors, who had been inspired by various characters, these dolls revive in our memories persons we had known from history, and works of art.

Women characters of the Middle Ages are presented at the exhibition both in banquet dressings and also in garments they don while having rest, and men and women living in palaces at the time are presented in different garments. And dolls in garments characteristic of different regions of Azerbaijan are distinguished by their fabric, colour, patterns and jewellery used.

Becoming familiarized with each exhibit of the exhibition, one can, at the same time, trace the nicety of the art of doll-making, and its development history.

Thus, as of December 28, you can visit the Heydar Aliyev Centre to see another exhibition – a collection comprised of rare handicrafts of world artists and sculptors.