6 Azerbaijani artists to know
Azeri artists explore their historical heritage through cutting-edge contemporary practices.
Art Radar profiles 6 contemporary artists from Azerbaijan, who examine a variety of issues within their country’s socio-political environment, inspired by their historical and cultural heritage.
Azerbaijan’s art scene has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. Through the participation of Azeri artists in international biennial events and exhibitions, the global art world has come to have a better understanding of the art that is emerging from the small Central Asian country.
A young generation of artists – eager to express their views on the contradictions of contemporary life in Azerbaijan – is developing fresh and innovative perspectives and practices. Born in the late 1970s and the 1980s, this generation has experienced their national independence from the Soviets in 1991 and an opening up of the country to globalising influences.
Baku, the capital, is now home to a thriving and evolving art scene – “an energetic community” as Aida Mahmudova calls it – with many new spaces opening as platforms for promoting, exhibiting and developing contemporary art. YARAT(meaning ‘create’) is the foremost nonprofit contemporary art organisation in Azerbaijan, representing and promoting Azeri artists within and outside their own country. Dedicated to the understanding of contemporary art and the development of a vibrant art scene at home, the platform has a roster that includes some of the most important names in the Azeri art landscape.
An artist, designer and photographer, Fakhriyya Mammadova graduated from the Design Faculty of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in Baku in 2005. She is a professional restorer of ceramics and sculpture, and in her artistic practice she also experiments with macro-photography.