“Decolonize your identity” series

Open to: Azerbaijan-based female artists The Feminine Gaze: Seeing Ourselves and Each Other Deadline: 21 January 2024 Inaugural exhibition date 8 March 2024 Place: Gazelli Art House Baku VarYox.Az and Gazelli Art House invite Azerbaijani and Azerbaijan-based female artists to submit an artwork proposal for inclusion in the inaugural Her Art in Action Festival. The […]

Living as a woman in post-communist Azerbaijan, I can’t help but question the unclear place women hold in our society. First and brief look at the statistical indices reveals high educational attainments and labor force participation of women, pointing at the equity between men and women in Azerbaijan. One may find this picture surprising taking into account that historical religion backed patriarchal values had been dominant in Azerbaijan and countries around us. Compared to even modern day Iran, bordering Azerbaijan in the south, liberties enjoyed by women in my country seem to be much wider.

Colonialism is a multifaceted practice of domination, characterized by the subjugation of one group by another. While some distinguish colonialism (direct governance by a foreign nation) from imperialism (indirect forms of domination), the core theme remains: it’s about power and control.

Decolonising is not just about including ‘non-white races’ into the academic field and ‘allowing’ them to produce knowledge. It is not just about who makes the meaning, but also how this meaning is made. Decolonising is about understanding and expressing the self through the self not through the other.