THE PAVILION OF AZERBAIJAN 54th International Art Exhibition la Biennale di
Venezia
RELATIONAL, OF BAKÛ
The Azerbaijan Pavilion is realized under the auspices of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
azpavilion.com
MIKAYIL ABDURAHMANOV
'Flying Shapes' (2011)
Oil on canvas
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Palazzo Benzon
San Marco 3927
(Vaporetto Station Sant'Angelo)
Canale Grande, Venice
Italy
Info
If you have any press or interview requests, or would like to apply for an
invitation to the Private View please contact Lee Sharrock, Director, Lee
Sharrock PR on lee@leesharrock.co.uk
Private view of Azerbaijan Pavilion:
Wednesday 1st June at 6pm
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THE PAVILION OF AZERBAIJAN
54th International Art Exhibition
la Biennale di Venezia
June-September 2011 presents
RELATIONAL, OF BAKÛ
MIKAYIL ABDURAHMANOV, ZEIGAM AZIZOV, KHANLAR GASIMOV,
AGA OUSSEINOV, ALTAI SADIGHZADEH, AIDAN SALAKHOVA
distinguished artists from Azerbaijan will present their works in the
Azerbaijan Pavilion, in the 54th International Art Exhibition la Biennale di
Venezia, in Palazzo Benzon .
The paintings of Mikayil Abdurahmanov and Altai Sadighzadeh, the sculptures
of Aidan Salakhova and Khanlar Gasimov, the multidisciplinary installations
of Zeigam Azizov and Aga Ousseinov were conceived in accordance to
'Illuminations', the concept of the biennale and will be installed with
dialectical arrangement to the abundantly decorated rooms of Palazzo Benzon.
The works of these artists markedly advocate an inspiring culture of Baku,
but the content and aesthetics of their work is extremely relational,
intricate and complex and need to be perceived within the current common
discourse of global art. Their current environmental context might be
diverse, but their imaginary and hypothetical horizon, which opens to
inter-cultural and inter-human relations, is common. Like many other of
their generation, these artists have witnessed and experienced the political
and economical transformation of the last four decades; all of them had a
strong modernist inheritance, even if it was determined by Soviet ideology;
and later all of them have experienced the rise of culture as symbolic
capital. For all of them, Baku is the nucleus of the fire that has ignited
their creativity, but they all had a desire to break through the borders of
that officially programmed art and culture.
In current cultural environments in South Caucasus, Middle-East and the East
Mediterranean there is a fusion of tradition, modernism, post-modernism and
relational aesthetics, over and above a quest for subjectivity within the
democratization processes. The works of these artists strongly reflect this
fusion and subjectivity. However, this fusion and quest for subjectivity
distinguishes itself from the Western model. In one perspective it
strikingly embodies a 20th century rupture and unity of contradictory forms
and concepts under the influence of Eurocentrism, Orientalism, Nationalism,
Utopia and Chaos; in the other it includes the general reification of human
relationship under the restraints of market economy. Yet, despite all these
challenges the artistic praxis is pursuing globally widespread interests,
effective and convincing opinions and enriching imaginary that come to
existence in visual productions.
The tradition in Azerbaijan, as deep as Prehistory, is intentionally
displayed in the graphic identity of the pavilion with an ornamental
double-gondola, a picture inscribed onto the Gobustan rocks, southwest of
Baku. The double-gondola from Baku, transported to the Grand Canale in
Venice represents the universal cultural relations based on visual
expression and production.
The Azerbaijan Pavilion is realized under the auspices of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The exhibition is curated
by curator and comissar of the Pavilion Cinghiz Farzaliev and curator Beral
Madra (BM Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul) with the contributions of
co-commissioner Vittorio Urbani (Nuova Icona, Venice).
The team of the Pavilion respectively consists of; Assistant Curator: Amina
Melikova; Editor: Togrul Afandiyev; Coordinator: Mila Askarova; Coordinator:
Suad Garayeva: Photographer & Designer: Farhad Farzaliev; and Exhibition
Architect and Designer: Vincenzo Casali. The venue of the Pavilion of the
Republic of Azerbaijan is Palazzo Benzon on Canale Grande (Vaporetto Station
Sant'Angelo).