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Azerbaijan’s talented artist Faig Ahmed will present his solo exhibition ‘NE VAR, ODUR’ (It Is What It Is) .

The exhibition will be organized by YARAT Contemporary Art Centre from November 11 till January 29. This exhibition is curated by Björn Geldhof.

The exhibition will display six new monumental works exploring gender relations and social structures within traditional Azerbaijani communities.

Known for his textile works that build upon and transform the traditional Azerbaijani craft of carpet making, Ahmed started a new body of work drawn from his research into the social habitat of Azeri people living outside the capital Baku.

The title of the exhibition “Ne var, odur” is an old Azerbaijani saying emphasizing a sense of imperturbability, an attitude of accepting things how they are and have been for many years in the past. It is a state of mind both content and reconciling with life how it is. A series of interviews and conversations he made throughout his travels in Azerbaijan, comment on his new productions that play upon symbolic gestures, rituals and objects specific to traditional Azerbaijani communities. His works urge towards an understanding of a disappearing cultural practice. They are stripped of any kind of melancholy and register traditions as Eastern Practices taking place on the border between Asia and Europe, between East and West. It results in a new body of sculptures, films, drawings and textile works investigating traditional relations with sexuality and death, addressing social taboos and individual trauma.

Faig Ahmed graduated from the Sculpture Department of Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in 2004. He represented Azerbaijan at the nation’s inaugural pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007 and participated in the show “Love Me, Love Me Not” in 2013.

Ahmed exhibited his works worldwide including group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Dubai, Moscow and the UAE. In 2013, the artist was nominated for the Jameel Prize 3 at Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His works are in public collections including Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Seattle Art Museum, Palm Springs Museum of Art and in private collections such as West Collection, Philadelphia, the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York City, Galila’s Collection, Brussels, Ranza collection, Rome, Jameel Foundation, London and H.H. Sh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, UAE. Just this year Ahmed’s works have been exhibited in several museum group shows including Museum of Fine Art Boston, Bellevue Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Sydney) and Mona – Museum of Old and New Art (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia). Ahmed lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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