Exhibition of Turkish artist opens in Baku [PHOTO] – AzerNews

2 October 2019 15:13 (UTC+04:00)

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By Laman Ismayilova

An exhibition of Turkish artist Ahmed Guneshtekin opened at the Heydar Aliyev Center on October 1 within the 2nd Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

Addressing the event, the director of the Heydar Aliyev Center Anar Alakbarov spoke about the 2nd Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation jointly with the Ministry of Culture.

"I take this opportunity to welcome guests who have come to the festival from around the world. First of all, I thank President Ilham Aliyev for the support provided in the implementation of cultural projects in our country and the announcement of this year as the 'Year of Nasimi'. I express gratitude to First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva for worthy promotion of Azerbaijani culture in the world and for the help in the implementation of such a festival," Alakbarov said.

He also expressed confidence that the exhibition would cause great interest.

Turkish artist Ahmed Guneshtekin, in turn, regarded Baku as a city of culture. He stressed the unique architecture of the Heydar Aliyev Center.

"This is a unique place. It is the same valuable architectural model as the Room of Immortality that I have created. I dedicated this work to the great leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, as a tribute to his memory. With this work, I tried to reflect the history of Azerbaijan and the personality of Heydar Aliyev," Guneshtekin said

Inspired by Nasimi's poetry, Turkish artist created a unique art work dedicated to him.

His work reflects the ideas of Hurufism, which is a literary and philosophical branch of Sufism. Among the exhibited works there is also the famous "Room of Immortality".

The artist created this installation under the influence of archaeological discoveries in Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. "The Epic ofGilgamesh" and "Nuh Tufans" legend were the main sources of his inspiration.

On the "Room of Immortality", the artist worked together with 130 people of various professions.

The art work consists of 22 thousand metal skulls and twisted horns. 35 tons of aluminum were consumed for its manufacture. The installation was first demonstrated in 2018.

Ahmed Guneshtekin is considered one of the prominent figures of contemporary Turkish art. Starting to paint at the age of five, Guneshtekin moved to Istanbul in 1981. In 1997, he opened the first studio in Istanbul. In 2003, Ataturk Cultural Center hosted its first major exhibition "Colors after Darkness".

In 2005, he presented the documentary "Following the Trail of the Sun". In 2010, the artist established the Guneshtekin Art Center in Istanbul. In 2013, he opened the first international exhibition in Venice and began to collaborate with the Marlborough Gallery.

The artists exhibition at the Heydar Aliyev Center will be open until March 31, 2020.

The 2nd Nasimi Festivalof Poetry, Arts and Spirituality was held in Azerbaijan from September 28 to October 1.

The festival, dedicated to the creativity of Imadaddin Nasimi, was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

The project aims at promotion ofthe national poets works, as well as exploring his philosophy, reflecting the phenomena of the modern world. As partof the project, a number of events were heldin Nasimis hometown Shamakhi as well as in Baku.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:@Lam_Ismayilova