The world Turkic festival will be held in Chicago, U.S., on Saturday and Sunday. A dance group operating within the Houston-Azerbaijan organization will for the first time join the event during which the Turkic nations’ cultures will be demonstrated. The dance group, which is engaged in propagandizing Azerbaijan’s national dances in the United States, will perform with seven national dances at the festival.*... читать

A monument to Azerbaijan’s great thinker and poet Nizami Ganjavi, who lived from 1141 to 1209, will be erected in Hungary, Mayor of the Ganja city Eldar Azizov said. The chief architect and artist of Ganja have left for Hungary on a working trip. A monument to a Hungarian poet will be erected in Ganja as well.*... читать

The conference of the Council of Europe member states’ culture ministers will be held in Baku on December 2, the organization’s official visiting Baku said. Head of the CE Ministerial Committee’s Directorate of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage, Robert Palmer, told reporters on Tuesday that a cross-cultural dialogue would be high on the agenda of the event. The conference will be also attended by the culture ministers of the non-member countries.*... читать

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received on Tuesday Saudi Minister for Information and Culture Iyad Madani. President Aliyev stressed the successful development of relations between the two countries as well as the importance of cooperation in the field of culture. He said that holding the Days of Saudi Culture in Azerbaijan would play an important role in the expansion of bilateral cultural relations and comprehensively inform the public about the history and culture of Saudi Arabia. M...... полностью

The world-famous Madame Tussauds museum of wax will include a figure of Azerbaijani nationwide leader, former president Heydar Aliyev. A special event will be held on Saturday on this occasion, first secretary of the Azerbaijani embassy in Britain, Orkhan Sultanov, said. The museum, founded by sculptor Maria Tussauds, features wax figures of personalities known around the globe. The London-based museum has subsidiaries in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, New York and Copenhagen.*... читать

The US embassy in Baku has allocated $37 million for the renovation of an Azerbaijani mosque dated the 17th-18th centuries as part of the “ambassadorial fund for preservation of culture” project. The Gala Mosque located in the Gala settlement of Baku will be restored with support from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture and Tourism. US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse said that this was the second project implemented by the US embassy in Azerbaijan. She said that the restoration of a mo...... полностью

The Azerbaijani culture and tourism minister has expressed his discontent with the situation with Azerbaijani cultural sites in Georgia. Abulfas Garayev, who has been in Georgia to attend an international conference under way on the initiative of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), told reporters that he had informed his Georgian counterpart of the plight of Azerbaijani cultural sites. He said that the Georgian government would take urgent measures in this regard. About 150 representati...... полностью

US pop singer and entertainer Rennie Kaufmann will tour Azerbaijan on Wednesday. During the visit to last till October 2, Kaufmann will perform at schools, orphanages and refugee centers in Baku and the regions of the country, the US embassy in Baku said. A media briefing with the US musician will be held at the Jazz Center on Wednesday.*... читать

A historical monument has been discovered during the excavations carried out by archeologists of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Germany in the Garajamirli village of Azerbaijan’s northwestern Shamkir District, a local scholar said. The monument dating back the 6th-5th centuries BC was believed to have been one of the residences of the Achaemenid Dynasty in the South Caucasus, the department head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Ilyas Babay...... полностью

US artist Karen Koblitz from California will be presenting her works in clay and woven textiles, largely inspired by her journey to Azerbaijan last year, in an exhibition “Facing East” to open in Los Angeles from September 8 to October 6. Renowned US artists and representatives of the Azerbaijani Diaspora will be invited to the event to take place at the L2Contemporary Gallery. Koblitz toured Azerbaijan in May 2006 at the invitation of the US embassy in Baku. She collaborated with local ar...... полностью

The US Dina Preston Band will visit Azerbaijan next week to give public performances in several regions of the country. The music group will perform in the open area in central parks of northern Shaki District on July 16 and western Gabala District on July 17, as well as in front of the Chemists’ Palace in Sumgayit city, some 30 km north of Baku, on July 18, the US embassy in Baku said. The concerts will be open to public free of charge. The band will also give concerts at Aqua Park resort...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s state historical preserve has been included in the world’s list of unique cultural sites. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was inscribed as an outstanding collection of some 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to over 10 millennia of rock art. A total of twenty-two new sites have been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and one deleted during a meeting of the group’s World Heritage Committee in New Zealand. The decision was approved by all the 21 Committee member st...... полностью

A jazz festival will start in Baku on Thursday with the participation of musicians from around the world. The week-long event will feature performances by jazzmen from Azerbaijan, the United States, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, Russia, France, and the Netherlands. The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival will be held at the open-air Yashil Theater. It will conclude with a gala-concert on June 14.*... читать

President Ilham Aliyev received the Director of the Louvre Museum Henri Loyrette on Tuesday. Aliyev said Loyrette’s visit to Azerbaijan was a remarkable development in the cultural life of his country and would significantly contribute to the expansion of Azerbaijan’s international cooperation in the field of culture. The head of state stressed the importance of expanding cooperation between the French museum and local museums. Loyrette, for his part, spoke of the opportunities for coopera...... полностью

The Director of the world-famous Louvre Museum Henri Loyrette arrived in Baku on Tuesday. Loyrette told journalists upon arrival that he intended to expand relations with Azerbaijan. He said the key goal of his visit was to establish cooperation between Azerbaijani museums and the Louvre Museum as well as to take some exhibits from Azerbaijan, which has ancient history, to his museum. As for the preservation of Azerbaijani carpets kept at the Louvre Museum, Loyrette said special areas were...... полностью

President Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony of re-opening the open-air Green Theater in Baku on Thursday. Addressing the event, Aliyev said this was made possible after instructions had been issued in August 2003 to upgrade the facility. “This wonderful theater has always been one of the favored places in Baku. This cultural center, which was built and commissioned in the 1960s, made the capital more beautiful and hosted a number of events,” Aliyev said. The head of state expressed hop...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s renowned designer Fakhriyya Khalafova will open a fashion show at the Hyatt Guba Ballroom on May 15. The fundraising event will be organized on the initiative of the International Women’s Club of Baku (IWC) within a project on repairing the gymnasium of an orphanage in the Shuvalan settlement of Baku and purchasing the required equipment, a source from Khalafova’s School of Fashion and Design said. The first show of this kind was held on June 1, 2003 on the occasion of the In...... полностью

A medieval subterranean building has been discovered in the courtyard of a private house in the Guba district, some 200 km north of Baku. The structure, encountered by mere chance by the house owner, is located at the depth of 8-10 meters. It has tunnels as well as front and back doors. According to historians, the establishment, built with red bricks, is part of the Guba Khan’s (ruler) grandiose palace that existed in the 17th century. The building is said to have been one of the secret p...... полностью

A tourist zone will be established in Shaki, 400 kilometers northwest of Baku, on the initiative of the Azerbaijani and French governments, to honor prominent French writer Alexandre Dumas and promote Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage and recognition worldwide. The Days of Dumas will be held in Shaki as well. The project also aims to promote understanding among nations and inter-cultural dialogue. The project, launched in the fall of 2006, envisions opening a tourist route in the areas visite...... полностью

Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev will visit Russia on Thursday. The outcomes of the Year of Russia in Azerbaijan held in 2006 will be in focus during the four-day visit to be paid at the invitation of the head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography Mikhail Shvidkoy. A plan on cooperation for 2007-2008 will be signed in conclusion of the talks, the ministry told AssA-Irada. Garayev will meet with the Russian Minister of Culture and Mass Communicat...... полностью

World-famous cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich has been hospitalized in Russia. President Vladimir Putin has called on him at a Moscow hospital, Radio Liberty reported. The report did not specify the ailment he is suffering from or his condition. Rostropovich was born in Baku in 1927. Besides his career in music, he is widely known for his generous charitable activities and chairs the Vishnevskaya-Rostropovich foundation, which provides medical aid to children.*... читать

The Dayirman rap band will give a charity concert in London on November 29. The event to be organized by the London-Azerbaijan society aims to strengthen relations between Azerbaijanis living and studying in Great Britain and support the formation of the Azerbaijani community in this country. The funds to be raised from the concert will be donated to Caspian Khazri, the only Azeri Sunday school operating in London. The concert will also be supported by the Club of Azerbaijani Youth establish...... полностью

The Days of Egyptian Culture opened in Baku on Monday. The week-long event will feature screening of films and various exhibitions. A number of new presentations will be held as part of the event as well, the Azeri Ministry of Culture and Tourism told AssA-Irada. The attendees will get an opportunity to take a close look at the Egyptian culture. The opening ceremony at the Azerbaijan State Philharmony will be followed by exhibitions of works by Egyptian artists at the Art Exhibition Hall and t...... полностью

An Egyptian delegation led by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni will visit Baku to attend the Days of Egyptian Culture, due on November 20-28. Concerts featuring Egyptian folk bands, art exhibitions and fairs will be organized in Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja and Lankaran cities of the country as part of the celebrations, the Egyptian embassy in Baku said. Days of Azerbaijani Culture were held in Cairo in November 2005 with the participation of the Azerbaijani ministry of culture officials.*...... полностью

Baku, September 4, AssA-Irada The eighth annual East-West International Film Festival started in Baku on Monday. Movies shot in the CIS and Baltic states as well as other countries in 2005-2006 and films that won different international contests will be shown free of charge in cinemas of the capital and the Ibrus Theater during the six-day event, the Union of Cinematographers said. Three Azerbaijani documentaries and several feature films will be shown during the festival. Cinemato...... полностью

The International Visual Arts Festival will be held in Azerbaijan’s second largest city, Ganja, on September 8-10. Artists from Turkey, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia as well as many artists from Azerbaijan will take part in the festival. The program will feature a number of theme exhibitions as well as an exhibition of Ganja artists. Ganja residents will have an opportunity to get acquainted with modern art of Azerbaijan and other countries. The event will also include performances b...... полностью

Baku, August 25, AssA-Irada An exhibition of works by Iranian artists will open in Baku on September 12. About 60 colored and graphical exhibits, as well as several sculptures by four artists from the Iranian ancient city of Isfahan will be displayed in the show to be organized at the Vajiha Samadova Exhibition Hall.*... читать

Baku, August 25, AssA-Irada The establishment of a TV channel covering Azerbaijan’s culture will be considered in September, says Nizami Jafarov, chairman of the Milli Majlis (parliament) commission on culture issues. “Those initiating the entity intend to appeal to President Ilham Aliyev. At the same time, the parliamentary commission will make relevant proposals concerning the location and the way the new channel will operate.” The MP said the channel may be managed by a commission con...... полностью

French composer Pierre Thilloy will hold a concert in Baku. Two of his works will be premiered at the Azerbaijan State Philharmony on Friday. French embassy in Azerbaijan hosted a news conference attended by the composer on Wednesday. In his opening remarks, the embassy’s cultural adviser Eve Bertrand, said that the concert will include “Song of semi-darkness” and “Burning mountain” compositions dedicated to Azerbaijan. The State Symphonic Orchestra will be directed by French conductor Vincent...... полностью

British parliament member Menzies Campbell and Director of independent charity John Smith Memorial Trust Emma MacLennan are expected to visit Azerbaijan October 5-6. The goal of the visit is to promote the John Smith Fellowship Program in the country, according to the British Council. The program, aimed at strengthening democratic awareness through studies in the U.K., targets young leaders from the former Soviet Union working in key leadership positions in politics, local government or civil s...... полностью