Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

Read more

The Azerbaijan National Art Museum had an exciting year, filled with new projects and achievements.

The museum has worked hard to engage with visitors and expand its collection, showcasing the rich art heritage of Azerbaijan.

In an interview with AZERNEWS, Director of the National Art Museum, Honored Cultural Worker Shirin Malikova touches upon the opening of fresh exhibitions, partnerships with international organizations, and plans for the future. She answered questions while discussing the museum's journey over the past year.

Q: How, in your opinion, has the outgoing year been characterized?

A: For Azerbaijan National Art Museum, the outgoing year has been fruitful and very eventful. We opened interesting exhibitions, and implemented new projects aimed at expanding our engagement with the public. The museum has also ventured into new spaces – in particular, we launched a souvenir shop and a museum cafée. In our time, such facilities are a natural and necessary part of any museum’s infrastructure, so we are keeping up with the times.

Of course, there were also international events – such as exhibitions as part of the Culture Days of Azerbaijan, our staff's participation in international symposia, and international projects within the museum... In short, the year flew by like a beautiful moment.

Q: How many tourists visited the Azerbaijan National Art Museum in 2024?

A: The overall attendance this year compared to last year delights us, but I believe there is still room for improvement. Although it's still early to summarize the outgoing year, as of today, our annual attendance figure has approached 30,000 visitors. This is more than double the previous year, 2023, when the museum was visited by 12,500 people.

Q: What valuable exhibits have been added to the museum's collection?

A: Currently, the museum is actively working on developing a concept for its collections. We are primarily focused on enriching our collections of domestic painting and graphics, as well as the sculpture collection of our masters. Not long before the exhibition of Sattar Bahlulzadeh, we acquired two valuable albums of his. Prior to this, we did not have any of his albums, despite the museum having a solid collection of works by this remarkable artist. Additionally, this year, our collection has been supplemented with works by Tofig Javadov, Togrul Narimanbayov, and Alakbar Rzakuliyev. We also acquired paintings from the national artist of Azerbaijan Tofig Aghababayev directly from his anniversary exhibition.

Q: What major projects were implemented by the museum in the outgoing year?

A: Our largest ongoing project is the renewal of the permanent exhibition. This is a long and complex process, involving a complete rethinking of the exhibition space and a fundamentally new approach to presenting the material.

The main idea is that we are a museum of visual arts, and this understanding lies at the core of our perception and interpretation of history. That is, we are not only interested in historical artefacts per se – we care about the artistic value of these objects, which will tell the story of the evolution of artistic methods, from the Bronze Age to modern times.

Through the lens of imagery, the perfection of form, and the unity of form and decor, we discuss different eras and types of art – such as ceramics, metal, wood, and textiles – which will be presented in close connection with works of visual arts, which is the foundation of all applied arts.

Q: With which international partners have you managed to strengthen cooperation?

A: We are actively working with museums from the CIS countries – we currently have many plans in this direction. We are establishing contacts with Turkiye, China, South Korea, and European countries. Next year, several international projects with major museums are planned.

Q: What are the museum's plans for the coming year?

A: The next year also promises to be rich and busy. Firstly, we plan to open the updated exhibition. Secondly, we have many plans regarding our exhibition activities. We are also preparing for an international symposium dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the founder of realistic painting, Mirza Kazim Iravani.

Finally, one of my favourite projects – "Fireplaces of the Palace of De Boure" is set to continue. I hope that the result of our recent meeting with Russian experts in architectural ceramics will be a publication and a new excursion tour dedicated to tiled fireplaces.