May 17, 2012

Opening of the "Afrovision – Contemporary Art from Africa" exhibition

The "Afrovision – Contemporary Art from Africa" exhibition was opened in Baku, May 17. First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice-President of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the event.


Leyla Aliyeva delivered a speech at the ceremony.


Speech by Leyla Aliyeva:


The African art is extraordinary, since every work here is of great sense and has a strong energy.


This exhibition is titled Afrovision. It features samples of contemporary art by 11 artists. Some of them are already famous and established, while others are young and promising.


I am very delighted that the exhibition is being held in this museum. I think, the role of African artists is growing in the modern world of art. The number of African artists has considerably increased in the past 20 years.


Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which is promoting the Azerbaijani culture worldwide, has always showed big respect to other cultures.


To me, African art is of special importance. Because African artists show humane emotions and real lives.


I would like to express gratitude to every participant here.


Heydar Aliyev Foundation has always supported artists. We organized 'Fly to Baku' exhibition in Paris and London, and gave the opportunity to 21 artists from Azerbaijan to show their works to the world.


We have not finished this exhibition yet. We plan to conduct it in Rome, New York, Moscow and other cities.


I want to thank Doctor Bernd Kleine-Gunk as he has initiated this exhibition. All works displayed here are from his personal collection. I also want to thank Mr Hazoume, who is a big sculptor and the author of one of the works here.


This exhibition would give the opportunity to residents of Azerbaijan to discover African culture. And what is especially important is that this exhibition is taking place at a very exciting time because we are hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in a few days.


I hope that through the eyes of artists Afrovision will give us the opportunity to discover a part of the world that we do not know much about.


Thank you so much.


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