Azerbaijan Fuses Traditional Ornamentation with Contemporary Design at the Venice Biennale

Azerbaijan returns with six artists for the 55th Venice Biennale with the theme of ‘Ornamentation’, as chosen by contemporary art advisor and this year's curator of the Azerbaijan Pavilion, Herve Mikaeloff.

‘In Azerbaijan, daily life represents a constant source of inspiration for creation, especially through decorative arts. Since modern art, artists have used ornamentation and decorative patterns to fuel their research of surface, space and new forms.’ - Herve Mikaeloff

The great tradition and rich culture of Azerbaijan is explored through the eyes of a new generation in the 2013 Venice Biennale with works from Rashad Alakbarov, Sanan Aleskerov, Chingiz Babayev, Butunay Hagverdiyev, Fakhriyya Mammadova and Farid Rasulov. Each of these artists have their own distinctive creative vision and explore notions of space in very different ways. Lavish decoration and images of beauty have been central fixtures of Azerbaijan's culture for centuries and the idea of time is also very much at the forefront of all the works exhibited by the National Pavilion this year. The theme of Ornamentation, the act of adding details to an object in order to beautify it, provides ample scope for modern interpretations of ancient ideas.