Exhibition of international and local artists in due Baku - PHOTOS

The first exhibition to feature British and international artists exhibiting alongside Azerbaijani artists will be shown at the Baku Museum of Modern Art from 15 May 2012.

Realised by YARAT!, a noncommercial organisation dedicated to promoting contemporary art in Azerbaijan, Merging Bridges will feature acclaimed artists including the world-renowned Sarah Lucas, Keith Coventry, James Turrell, Idris Khan and Olympia Scarry. This extraordinary collection of work will be displayed alongside some of the finest contemporary artists based in Baku including Altai Sadikhzade, Aga Huseynov, Niyaz Najafov, Rashad Alakbarov and Farid Rasulov. The exhibition is being co-curated by Aida Mahmudova, the founder and director of YARAT! and London-based curator Adam Waymouth.

Together they will present a spectrum of work highlighting both established and emerging artists from flourishing artistic centres around the world. Throughout their careers, Mahmudova and Waymouth have endeavoured to provide platforms for contemporary, in particular emerging, artists.

Founded in October 2011 by Aida Mahmudova YARAT! has, through previous projects such as their inaugural exhibition On Soz and the ongoing 012 Baku Public Art Festival, sparked an artistic discourse, which will be increased by an international exhibition. Merging Bridges will further underline YARAT!'s main objective - to encourage dialogue between the global contemporary art community and that of Azerbaijan.

The exhibition will also coincide with Baku hosting the European Song Contest 2012, which is expected to draw countless visitors to the city, thus bringing the artworks to a wider, international audience. Having provided a platform for both established and emerging contemporary artists in Baku, YARAT! will further its nurturing of this artistic community by showcasing their work alongside celebrated international artists. Just like their counterparts, the participating Azeri artists have wide-ranging experience; from the internationally acclaimed Altai Sadikzade, who designed and coordinated the construction of the Baku Museum of Modern Art to Faig Ahmed, who was chosen to represent Azerbaijan during their first appearance at the Venice Biennale in 2007.

A specially commissioned installation by the internationally recognised Idris Khan will also be exhibited at Merging Bridges. Khan is best known for his digitally manipulated prints which explore the history of music and text within both Western and Islamic traditions. For this exhibition however, the artist will present a sculpture formed by four panels of rusted steel which have been sandblasted with the score from Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time (1941) which was composed whilst he was in a German prison camp.

Co-curator Aida Mahmudova comments: "This is a highly ambitious and fascinating project. Never before have such prestigious international and Azeri artists come together under one roof. The caliber of artists combines with the unique backdrop, which Baku and the Museum of Modern Art will provide, to make Merging Bridges an unmissable art event for 2012" .

Adam Waymouth comments: "This is an incredibly exciting exhibition not only because of the caliber of artists that will be on show but because it also underlines Baku's burgeoning relationship with the international art market. I am really thrilled to be part of this project and to be working alongside an organisation like YARAT! which is playing such a pioneering role in creating dialogue between Azerbaijani artists and their contemporaries across the world."

YARAT! Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT! is a non-commercial, private organisation dedicated to the promotion and nurturing of Azeri Contemporary art nationally and on a global level. YARAT!'s inaugural show On Soz took place in October 2011 and attracted 20,000 visitors in one month. Building on the success of this project, YARAT! launched the 012 Baku Public Art Festival in February 2012. A key objective of YARAT!'s is to form dialogue and exchanges with non-commercial art foundations both in Azerbaijan and abroad. YARAT! also aims to provide educational initiatives as well as an international art prize.

Aida Mahmudova, the creator and founder of YARAT!, trained as an artist at Central Saint Martins, London before returning to her native Baku. Meeting other artists there, it became clear to Aida that they would benefit from an organisation to inspire and focus a creative dialogue. This inspired her to start a non-profit organisation that promotes and celebrates Contemporary art in Azerbaijan. Through YARAT!, Mahmudova aims to provide a platform for Azeri Contemporary artists that will help promote art to a broader national and international audience.

Having studied at the City and Guilds Art School, Adam Waymouth went on to co-found 20 Hoxton Square Projects, where he was the Director for more than four years. He then worked for a year running the Lazarides Print Gallery and has been independently involved with the work of art organisations and charities. In 2011 he founded AdamWaymouthArt, which is a curatorial art consultancy working in conjunction with contemporary artists, museums, galleries and private clients. In the last six months Waymouth has collaborated with Pertwee, Anderson and Gold, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Shelter, Flora Fairbairn Projects, Gazelli Art House, Parasol Unit and Bold Tendencie.

Participating British and International artists are James Turrell, Sarah Lucas, Annie Morris, Paul Fryer, Keith Coventry, Alex Hoda, Olympia Scarry, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Ryan Mosley, Jaap de Vries, George Young and Neil Clements. Participating Azerbaijani artists are Aga Huseynov, Altai Sadikhzade, Faig Ahmed, Rashad Alakbarov, Ali Hasanov, Niyaz Najafov, Rashad Babayev, Farid Rasulov, Aida Mahmudova, Orkhan Huseynov, Nazrin Mammadova and Ramal Kazimov.


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