Unique dolls to be put on display in Baku

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

The Baku International "Fusion Doll” Biennale will be held for the third time at Baku's Museum Center on November 5-10.

The event will display interesting works by master craftsmen from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Japan, Estonia, and Russia.

At the festival, Azerbaijan will be represented by “Kukla,” the only art gallery of its kind in the entire Southern Caucasus, operating since 2013.

Famous national masters Parviz Huseynov and Irina Gundorina will feature their masterpieces at the event.

The excellent artist of small sculpture, Tamilla Gurbanova, has prepared special dolls for the occasion based on the theme of "women": "Reflection" depicts a woman looking into a mirror; “Sofi” is a doll portrait of the famous actress Sophia Loren, a symbol of unfading feminine beauty; and “Mystery of the Snail” is about reincarnation, where the apparent slowness of the snail is personified by universal womanly wisdom.

At the biennale festival, works of the DAART Fine Arts Center’s teacher Anara Salmanova and the center’s graduates Zinaida Hasanova, Nubar Shahbazova, and Alla Lichnorovskaya will also be exhibited.

Young and promising puppet master Farah Aliyeva also prepared new dolls for the festival.

For the first time in the history of the event, Olga Abbasova, the representative of the Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theatre named after Samad Vurgun, will share her collection of dolls with visitors.

The exhibition will feature the exposition of the “World Dolls” Foundation, titled “Pandora Platinum – 2015.”

The Cultural Foundation from Russia has been cooperating with Azerbaijani artists for many years and has participated in the biennale festivals since they were launched, featuring exposure of many leading Russian craftsmens.

These dolls were designed for contemplation, not for play. Making such a doll with one’s own hands is a creative and time-consuming process that requires special attention to detail, a great deal of patience, artistic taste, and an education in art.

The venue for the exhibition, obtained with support from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, is located at 123a Neftchiler Avenue.

The first festival was held in Baku in 2011 and the second in 2013, showcasing the works of masters from Azerbaijan, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Latvia, Georgia, Belarus, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Israel.