Haft Paykar Conceptual Art Exhibition

This year Azerbaijan celebrates the 880th birthday of Nizami Ganjavi, the greatest poet of his country (1141-1202), who left deep marks on Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Indian cultures. His Princess Turandot has become artistically productive in Europe as well, not only in Puccini’s opera but also in the German dramas by Schiller, Brecht, and Hildesheimer.
For the Goethe-Zentrum in Baku (German Cultural Centre) and Doklad Independent Art Platform the jubilee is a welcome occasion to take a contemporary, artistic look at Nizami’s main work “Haft Paykar” (Persian for “seven portraits” or, metaphorically, “seven beauties”). The epic is not only an allegory for moral edification (patience, truth, justice, passion, etc.), it also provides material for social criticism, gender issues, and has an erotic undertone. The role of women then and now, relationships between the sexes and love dramas are treated as well as political and cultural issues of the respective societies, hoping that in their images and words a touch of medieval poetry blow into the present so that everyone may find the “unity of all times” (Hermann Hesse) on their own inner journey to the east. The protagonists, who apply via an “Open Call” on Instagram, Facebook and on our website haftpaykar.art, come from the regions of the world named in “Haft Paykar”: China, India, Central Asia, Russia, North Africa, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, formerly part of the Persian Empire, as well as the respective communities in Germany.

“Haft Paykar” is a conceptual art exhibition. Any woman having reached the age of 18-30 can participate. Selection of participants is carried out by a committee appointed by Goethe-Zentrum Baku. The project – exhibition will be divided into two parts:
1. Online session:
Please answer the questions in the form below: https://clck.ru/TZPME

2. Live session:
The seven participants selected by organizers according to the criteria of Nizami’s “seven portraits”, will be invited to Baku, as soon as the borders are reopened, where they stage a performance as “Tableau vivant” in seven different colored pavilions in the Kapellhaus, our iconic exhibition venue. Interaction with the visitors is envisaged. Music from the respective cultures complements the art project, while a fashion designer creates​ new dresses for each participant.

• Each selected participant will be awarded 1 000 EUR and 15 unforgettable days in Baku – The Land of Fire.
• All travel expenses will be covered by Goethe-Zentrum in Baku (German Cultural Centre).

If you want to explore eastern culture with Nizami, discover the beauty of colors and literature, be a part of Haft Paykar, then we invite you to draw your own inner portrait and retell Nizami’s story from today’s perspective in a technologically advanced era.
The Shortlisted participants will receive additional information about “Haft Paykar”.
This project is commissioned by Goethe-Zentrum Baku
Director: Alfons Hug

• All rights reserved: Goethe-Zentrum Baku
• Your personal details are confidential
• All applicants accept the conditions as laid out in this open call and permit Goethe-Zentrum Baku to use their submitted texts and images for exhibition and promotion, both online and offline. Since Goethe-Zentrum is a nonprofit organization this material will not be used commercially.