On February 27, an exhibition named ‘Hello, Novruz’, dedicated to the arrival of spring to our native homeland, was opened at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art. The exhibition, the opening of which took place on Su Charshanbasi (Water Tuesday), the first harbinger of the spring holiday, and was presented based on about 80 exhibits, including decorative-applied and fine artworks selected from the collection of the museum, was jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art.The curator of the exhibition is Shirin Malikova, PhD in Art Studies, Associate Professor.
With an exciting concept, the exhibition space is divided into five thematic halls dedicated to the Tuesdays of Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Novruz holiday, the beginning of the astronomical new year. At the entrance of the exhibition, visitors are welcomed by an interactive tree of dreams. While writing their wishes and hanging them on it, they transform it into a tree with green leaves, and by this, they contribute to the design of the exhibition personally.
In Su Charshanbasi Hall, there are ceramic dishes with geometric ornaments from the Bronze Age which semantic meanings are related to water, dolcha, sahang, aftafa-layan, water bowl, chiljam (forty keys basin) distinguished by their beauty of the form and exquisite patterns, artistic metal samples of the 19th century are displayed. In the next hall dedicated to Od Charshanbasi (Fire Tuesday), an ancient ceramic example reflecting the ideological views of our ancestors connected with the faith in fire and sun, fine artistic embroideries in different techniques of the XIX century with the beautiful colour solution, decorated with ornaments and images representing the sun, examples of artistic weapons like helmets, shield and other unique art samples are presented to the visitors.
In Yel Charshanbasi (Wind Tuesday) hall, among the decorative art examples related to the element of air, elegant kelaghayi, delicate fans, and wind instrument- ney are displayed. Interactive methods were used to bring dynamism to the hall, a specific atmosphere to this Charshanba (Tuesday).
Continuing the theme, Torpag Charshanbasi (Earth Tuesday) hall is decorated with ornamented carpets representing land, abundance, and fertility, artistic embroiderysamples and other types of folk art, as well as exhibits related to folk beliefs carried out in “Ilakhir Charshanbasi” (the last Tuesday).
The fifth hall reflects the astronomical New Year, the equalization of day and night, winter's end, and spring's arrival. In this hall, where a holiday atmosphere is created, a colourful ‘interactive khoncha’ decorated with the main attributes of Novruz is presented to the audience.
In the exposition of the exhibition, as well as through photo and video projection, Novruz elements are revived with image and sound effects, and spring ceremonial songs are performed by folklore groups.
Before entering the thematic halls in the exhibition of ‘Hello, Novruz!’, paintings and graphic works of A. Azimzadeh, S. Bahlulzadeh, E. Shahtakhtinskaya and other prominent Azerbaijani artists reflecting this ancient spring holiday are also presented. In general, the exhibition, which has the bright colour of the holiday and includes all the attributes and symbols of Novruz, invites the viewer to travel within the frame of time and space.
It should be noted that the performances of the ‘Nene-qizlar’ (‘Grandmother and Girls’) folklore ensemble which took part in the opening ceremony, added a special colour to the exhibition.
The exhibition will continue until April 15, 2024.
