View of Baku from Iraqi-British architect ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center.

Mar 27 2015

Field Trip: Baku 2015

by Sylvia Tsai

Situated on the Caspian Sea, the oil-rich country of Azerbaijan is undergoing rapid transformation to become the cultural destination of the Caucasus. Shaking off former Soviet ties—from which it gained independence in 1991—Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital city, continues to open itself up to international exchange economically and also in arts and culture. In recent years, the surge of national wealth centered primarily in Baku—a city of roughly 4 million people—has seen the rise of the middle-class, thus attracting the infiltration of luxury goods and services. On March 25, for instance, the British retail chain Harvey Nichols opened its first outpost in Baku and this summer, American entrepreneur Donald Trump will debut Trump International Hotel and Tower in the city’s Nasimi District.

In 2012, Baku was named host of the inaugural edition of the European Games, set to open in June 2015, which will bring to the city 6,000 athletes from across 50 European countries. In preparation for the event—which is estimated to cost USD 8 billion—Baku has initiated citywide construction projects, launching a building boom to match high-flying ambitions on par with those seen in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island in terms of its scale but also, rather ominously, in its alleged abuses to migrant labor conditions.

Nevertheless, the impending growth of Azerbaijan has galvanized the country’s contemporary art, a scene predominantly fostered in Baku. The city’s main arts organization Yarat, a non-profit founded by a group of local artists in 2011, supports Azeri art at home and abroad. In March, Yarat opened its first permanent space in Baku and invited ArtAsiaPacific to its spacious new premises with the launch of a group show “Making Histories,” organized with selected works from Yarat’s permanent collection, and a new commission by Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat, The Home of My Eyes (2015). Here’s a look at Yarat’s growing ventures and other cultural venues around Baku.

All photos by Sylvia Tsai for ArtAsiaPacific.

Opened in a residential area in 2014, Yarat Studios houses 11 working and residential spaces for Azerbaijani and international artists.

In the studio of Azeri artist FARID RASULOV, one of the artists who represented Azerbaijan in the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.

FARID RASULOV’s studio filled with his signature large-scale, hyper-realistic still life paintings.

A cosy nook within FARID RASULOV’s studio.

Detail of a graphite-and-canvas work by FARID RASULOV created from meticulously written text that forms into a portrait.

In ORXAN HÜSEYNOV studio are plexiglass works from his “Shopfront” series (2012– ).

On the first floor of Yarat Studios is the space of RASHAD ALAKBAROV, who is also one of the artists participating in Baku’s collateral event “The Union of Fire and Water” at this year’s Venice Biennale. Using the play between light and shadow, images are projected from his wrought metal constructions.

Detail of RASHAD ALAKBAROV’s metal constructions used to project images when illuminated with light.

Large-scale work-in-progress painting in the studio of Yarat co-founder AIDA MAHMUDOVA.

On March 21, Azerbaijan—along with other Muslim communities in the Middle East, South and Central Asia—celebrated Navroz, a week-long national holiday marking the first day of Spring and the beginning of a new year.

Within the walled Old City (Icheri Sheher) of Baku, families were enjoying Navroz festivities with traditional performances, music and food. Here, wafts of smoke spread from the chimneys of nearby kebab grills.

Within Baku’s Old City is Yay Gallery, established in 2012 as Yarat’s commercial entity. At the gallery was a group show of their represented artists.

FARKHAD FARZALIYEZ, from “Granny’s Vocabulary” series, 2014, textile, foamcore and neon. The artist chose common phrases spoken by grandmothers. The words here say: “Eat your food first, then you can go out and play.”

NAZRIN MAMMADOVA, from “Alti Aghac” series, 2014, metallic print on plexiglass. Images of the Caucasus mountains are overly embellished to comment on the growing commercialism and exuberance seen within the region.

View from the rooftop of Yay Gallery, overlooking the 15th-century Palace of the Shirvanshahs.

View of Baku Old City in contrast with the rising modern skyline.

Yay Gallery’s group exhibition continues in the nearby in the Kichik QalArt Gallery.

FAIG AHMED, Flood of Yellow Light, 2012, handmade woolen carpet, 200 × 150 cm.

FARID RASULOV, from “Shebeke” series, 2015, wood and glass, 156 × 75 cm.

RAMAL KAZIM, Entwined, 2014, polyester and knit, 200 × 180 × 60 cm.

From the Old City to the Baku Boulevard, a six-kilometer-long promenade—that will expand to 15 kilometer by June in time for the European Games—along the Caspian Sea dotted with restaurants, hotels, parks and Azerbaijani culture museums.

Designed by Austrian architect FRANZ JANZ, the city’s new Azerbaijani Carpet Museum opened in 2014 along the waterfront.

Installation view of Azerbaijani carpets inside the FRANZ JANZ-designed Carpet Museum.

Display of traditional Azerbaijani carpet inside the FRANZ JANZ-designed Carpet Museum.

Yarat Contemporary Art Centre opened on March 23. With a view of the Caspian Sea, the two-story building was converted from a Soviet-era naval headquarters.

Installation view of FAIG AHMED’s deconstructed Azerbaijani carpet installation in “Making Histories”, the inaugural group exhibition at Yarat Contemporary Art Centre, Baku.

Installation view of “Making Histories”, the inaugural exhibition at Yarat Contemporary Art Centre, Baku.

NEVIN ALADAĞ, Five Stones Game, 2009–12, 38 fine art photograph prints.

Detail of AIDA MAHMUDOVA’s mixed-media installation On My Way Back Home to the Sea, 2014, as part of “Making Histories”, the inaugural group exhibition at Yarat Contemporary Art Centre, Baku.

On the second floor of Yarat Contemporary Art Centre is Iranian-American artist SHIRIN NESHAT’s new commission by Yarat, The Home of My Eyes (2015), made up of 55 portraits of local Azeris.

SHIRIN NESHAT (left) during her exhibition preview.

ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center, a 57,507-square-meter cultural center completed in 2012.

Exterior view of ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku with a twisted steel sculpture by British artist TONY CRAGG.

Fluid lines of ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

Exterior of ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

Interior staircase of ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

Inside Heydar Aliyev Center, which was showing “Miniature Azerbaijan” (2015) an exhibition featuring small models that depict landmark works of azerbaijani architecture.

ZAHA HADID’s Heydar Aliyev Center from behind.