On November 18, “Azerkhalcha” OJSC, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in
Albania and Tirana Art Gallery, with the support of Tirana City
Municipality, held the next exhibition of Azerbaijani carpets in
Europe at Tirana Art Gallery.
The exhibition is dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the
inclusion of the traditional art of carpet weaving in the UNESCO
Representative List of intangible cultural heritage with the direct
initiative and support of the first vice-president of the Republic
of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva. The next day, on November 19, a
meeting and master classes were held between students of art
faculties of various educational institutions and Azerbaijani
artists.
The special event organized to mark the opening of the “May your
hands remain well!” exhibition was attended by officials of
Albanian state institutions, members of parliament, representatives
of the diplomatic corps in Tirana, media representatives,
representatives of science and academic circles, artists and
cultural figures, as well as members of Azerbaijani, Turkish and
other communities living in Albania.
The “May your hands remain well!” carpet collection includes
traditional carpets from the Karabakh, Guba and Shirvan carpet
weaving schools woven in the workshops of “Azerkhalcha” OJSC, as
well as works from various special collections. These include one
carpet from the “44” collection of “Azerkhalcha” OJSC in
collaboration with Rashad Alekperov, two carpets from the
“Architect of Memory” and “Woman” collections with Aydan Salahova,
one carpet from a joint project with Faig Ahmed, three exclusive
carpets from the “Pomegranate Symphony” collection with young
artist Samira Allahverdiyeva, and two – “Nakhchivan” and “Qarabagh”
carpets by Rufat Ismayil in collaboration with “AFFFAIR”. In
addition, the exhibition will feature two carpets by the Albanian
artist Xhevahir Kolgji, who in his works connects East and West and
thus tries to destroy the borders.
The exhibition was declared open by the Azerbaijani Ambassador
to Albania, Anar Huseynov. The Diplomat informed about the history
of carpet weaving, which is one of the vivid examples of
Azerbaijan’s ancient and rich cultural heritage, and the state’s
care for the development of this art in our country. The ambassador
noted that the purpose of the exhibition is to convey the culture
and truth of Azerbaijan to local residents through art. The
two-month exhibition will contribute to the rapprochement of the
peoples of Azerbaijan and Albania. He thanked the municipality of
Tirana for the conditions created for the exhibition.
During his speech, Chairman of the Board of Directors of
“Azerkhalcha” OJSC, Honored Artist Emin Mammadov congratulated the
event participants on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the
November 8 Victory Day and the magnificent victory, which we
recently celebrated and which is written in golden letters in the
centuries-old history of our people, and spoke about the history of
the organization. The Chairman said that the main goal of
“Azerkhalcha” OJSC is to preserve the tradition of carpet weaving
and further develop this art. He stressed that Azerbaijani
folk-applied art and its branch, carpet weaving, occupy a special
place in the history of the national culture of our people.
E.Mammadov spoke about the short history of various carpets
displayed at the exhibition and spoke about the future plans and
main goals of “Azerkhalcha” OJSC.
Then, Director of The Art Gallery of Tirana Edith Pula and
Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Albania to Azerbaijan
Besart Kadia, who visited his homeland for this exhibition,
continued the event with their speeches.
In order to promote the art of carpet weaving in Azerbaijan to
the world, protect our national spiritual heritage, adapt it to the
modern era and pass it on to future generations, and support the
promotion of the art of carpet weaving, the “Qarabakh” and
“Nakhchivan” carpets, belonging to the joint “A New Look at
Cultural Heritage” collection of “Azerkhalcha” OJSC and “AFFFAIR”,
were donated to the Tirana Art Gallery by “PASHA Holding” and
“PASHA Bank”. These carpets will continue to be displayed in the
gallery’s permanent collection. At the same time, another example
of ”Nakhchivan“ carpet was presented by ”Pasha Holding” to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania as a gift.
The process of weaving a real Azerbaijani carpet was
demonstrated and master classes were held for the visitors of the
exhibition. Participants of the exhibition have the opportunity to
make their own loops on the carpet. A special certificate of
“Azerkhalcha” OJSC was also presented to everyone who participated
in the weaving process of the Azerbaijani carpet. The exhibition
will last until January 20.