Arts & Culture

90th jubilee of Azerbaijani operetta to be marked
Azerbaijani people are marking the 90th jubilee of the first national operetta, Arshin Mal Alan (retail merchant), by great composer Uzeyir Hacibayov, this year.
The Arshin Mal Alan film based on the operetta of the same name, written by Uzeyir Hajibayov in 1913, was first produced in 1945, with Rasid Behbudov playing the leading part. The film was dubbed in 86 languages and shown in most countries.
The operetta will also be staged in Saint Petersburg in November, following jubilee celebrations in Baku and Moscow.
The Rasid Behbudov Foundation, organizer of the events, is said to have reached agreement with the Mayor's Office of St. Petersburg.
Director of the Foundation Kamil Sahverdiyev has told AssA-Irada several exhibitions and concert programs will be arranged in St.-Petersburg, the second motherland of Arshin Mal Alan, as the operetta was written there.
An exhibition to mark the event will open at the house-museum to Uzeyir Hajibayov to display photos, playbills and programmes of the performances of the operetta in different years.

Children's art exhibition opens
An art exhibition of children's works, Seven colorful butterflies, opened at the Mercy Corps office in the Old City on Monday. Jointly organized by Mercy Corps, Technip-Coflexip and Q Gallery, the month-long show is displaying about 50 works by little artists aged between 3 and 15 taught by Inna Kostina, Mercy Corps has told Azernews.
Apart from executives from sponsor organizations, The Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources also attended the event.

Book on Azerbaijani woman musicians
A book, Women in Azerbaijani Music, about 50 female musicians of Azerbaijan will be published soon, while it will be ceremonially presented at the Azerbaijan State Museum of Musical Art. 
A Museum source has told AssA-Irada the book in particular deals with first ballet dancer Qamar Almaszada, first female music critic Xursud Agayeva, famous pianist Xadica Qayibova and other musicians being forgotten.
The publication also contains data on and photos of female artists of different nationalities, who contributed to Azerbaijani music.

Ukrainian ballet master to stage play in Baku  
A ballet-master, Ukrainian people's artist, Victor Litvinov, will arrive in Baku in July on the invitation of the Opera and Ballet Theater to stage a play, East-site story, by Russian composer Dmitri Shestokovich. A source from the Theater has told AssA-Irada during his first visit, the Ukrainian ballet-master will get closely familiar with company of the Theater to determine the those to play leading parts. First night of the play, staged for the first time in Azerbaijan is scheduled for October, the same source said.

Scream of silence in paintings
A first personal exhibition by young artist Aynur Xanquliyeva, Scream of Silence, will open at the Miniature Art Center on June 20.
The Union of  Azerbaijani Artists has told AssA-Irada the tree-day show will exhibit around 40 paintings, graphics and computer graphics. Aynur Xanguliyeva is deaf and dumb.

Nizami Gancavi Mausoleum to be restored
Restoration of the Mausoleum of great Azerbaijani thinker Nizami Gancavi will start soon as the Culture Ministry is preparing estimations of the project, Culture Minister Polad Bulbuloglu has told Azernews.
The Minister noted that four historic monuments -  Sirvansahs' Palace (Khan's room on the second floor and Court House), Saki Khan's Palace, Mominaxatun Mausoleum, and Qarabaglar Mausoleum.

Unusual art show
An unusual art exhibition opened at the Baku Art Center on June 14. A Center source has told AssA-Irada that a three-day show displayed approximately 50 works by Azerbaijani artist Firuza Yunusova and her students Emel Cevikoz, a spouse of Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ahmad Unal Cevikoz; Bayran  Mudiroglu, a spouse of the owner of the Landmark business center; and Vazira Sahilstar, a spouse of Vice President of a US-based humanitarian organization. The amateur artists started to take art classes by Firuza Yunusova since 1999.

Exhibitions in honor of Salvation Day to open
An exhibition, presented by Gala creative group and dedicated to National Salvation Day opened at the Gala Picture Gallery on Friday.
The week-long show, organized by the Culture Department of the Baku Mayor's Office, exhibited around 100 paintings, graphical and sculptural works by renowned artists Adil Rustamov, Yusif Mirza and Orxan Husseinov. Another exhibition of cooper works opened at the Sirvanshahs' Palace-Museum on Sunday. According to Deputy Director of the Museum Tarana Balayeva, around 100 historic home appliances, such as long jars, milk pails, brazier, trays, etc.

Int'l symposium on Azerbaijani culture due
An international symposium, The Development of National Culture in Azerbaijan, jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Council of Europe (CE) will be held in Baku on June 22-24 to discuss the development of national culture and its financing, Minister for Culture Polad Bulbuloglu has told AssA-Irada. The EU representatives are expected to attend the event that is to conclude the work done in this respect.
Azerbaijan submitted a report on the development of the national culture to the Council of Europe in 2002.