YARAT! presents "Through time" project by Huseyn Haqverdiyev - PHOTOS

A presentation of artist Huseyn Haqverdiyev's project "Through time ", organized by the YARAT! nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art of Azerbaijan was held in Baku near Park Bulvar on Friday.

Rector of the Baku branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, art director of UNS Theatre Nargiz Pashayeva, famous artist Altai Sadikhzade and other famous artists and public figures attended the event organized during 012 Baku Public Art Festival.

Plastic composition of artist Huseyn Haqverdiyev "Through time" consists of abstract forms that remind us of calligraphy. Traditions of Eastern and particularly Muslim art differ from the Western tradition by its devotion to allegory and metaphor. According to this tradition the depiction of words is as significant as the depiction of images. The depiction of words is very close to calligraphy that dates back to ancient writing systems: runes, pictograms and hieroglyphs. In calligraphy the words bear semantic meaning as well as visual thus affecting our consciousness - through words, visual image and the human subconscious.

With this sculpture the artist brings the viewer to the space of quasi-textual structures. The viewer perceives these masses of words and letters not in two-dimensional plane but in space. Thus the viewer becomes a part of a mysterious message expressed in the artistic language, unknown to others.

Islam was one of the main factors that initiated the development of calligraphy. Azerbaijani art of calligraphy, especially the Tabriz school, reached its peak in XIII-XIV centuries. During this period the new school of calligraphy emerged in Tabriz with famous Azerbaijani calligraphers such as Mahmoud Sarraf, SeidHeydar, Sadaddin, JafarTabrizi, Mir Ali, and many others developing new artistic and calligraphic styles in the East. Mir Ali Tabrizi was one of the key founders of Nas-Taliq calligraphy style, based on this font numerous scientific and fiction books were written. Scientific work by Mohammed Seyrafi called "Adab al-Khatt" ("The Art of Calligraphy") played important role in Azerbaijani art of calligraphy. Yet another important calligrapher was Shah Mahmud Nishapuri (during the reign of Tahmasp).

Deeply rooted traditions of calligraphy have affected local architecture and these influences can be particularly traced among ornate stone engravings of Baku-Absheron school of stone and architectural decor. These intricate engravings, adorning facades of domestic and cultural buildings to the present day, resemble a magical dance from the era.

Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT! is a non-commercial, private organisation dedicated to the promotion and nurturing of Azeri Contemporary art nationally and internationally.

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