The series “Karabakhname – Pages of History” which is the the attractive and memorable “artistic mirror” on the distant past of Azerbaijani people, by well-known artist of republic, people’s artist Arif Huseynov, can be considered an example of art that can truly touch the audience.
Arif Huseynov, who created each artwork as a bridge between the artist’s mind and society, for this reason, he achieved to create very effective artistic-historical-spiritual source that could expose the enemy’s intrigues by presenting Karabakh problem, which he was alone for three years with this issue – the pain of the loss of land in his personal creative imagination. The unique value of these black and white artistic images that stems from proud and revealing historicity are based on undeniable facts – documents. In this sense, the encyclopedic capacity of the well-known graphic artist “Karabakhname” can be compared with the “Karabakh shikastasi”, which has become the anthem of our struggles and nurtures our souls because of the power of artistic emotions. Thus, the striking and thought-provoking artistic moments in the metaphorically harsh “artistic mirror” of Arif Huseynov’s outstanding and sometimes less popular pages in the history of Azerbaijan-Karabakh are as militant as famous “Karabakh shikastasi”…
Arif Hüseynov
This series, which will become a new page in Arif Huseynov`s artistic experience, who always differs from others in his approach to national themes, is distinguished by its comprehensive artistic and historical ability, as well as unique interpretation – artistic features. Thus, this collection of graphic artworks, which is numerically superior to the previous series, is essentially documentary and artistic. In other words, the artist sheds light on our contrasting history, which lasted from the time of Ancient Albania to the Khojaly tragedy through these works. In this artistic approach to the history of Karabakh, he was interested in almost everything. This is confirmed by colorful graphics depicting various recent events related to Karabakh, architectural structures, cultural materials, creativity of musicians and artists. “Letter of Peter I”, “Treaty of Turkmenchay”, “Ganjasar Monastery”, “Armenization of Albanian Monuments”, “Dream of Dashnaks “Great Armenia”, “Shooting of Statues”, “Karabakh Wars ”, “Panakhali Khan”, “People’s Musicians”, “The Women of Kalbajar”, “The Horses of Karabakh” and etc. the images on the boards created from the successful combination of historical documents and truths with the artist’s imagination, completed by text written in Azerbaijani and English, are quite attractive and memorable. The ideological content of these artworks is entirely related to the exposure of the Armenians, who from time to time showed their aggressive nature, and they have historical significance as well as high artistic value. The artist’s presentation of the image or monument in each composition, as well as the plot in conjunction with various events of the period to which he belongs, is new to the Azerbaijani graphic art, but also makes the artistic view more comprehensive.
We should say that the inclusion in the series of images of state and public figures who have made an immeasurable contribution to spreading the truth about Karabakh in the world has further enriched its meaning and content.
The artistic capacity of Arif Huseynov’s “Karabakhname”, created at the beginning of the XXI century, can be compared in terms of the scale of influence only with the series “Refugees” created by Bahruz bey Kangarli at the beginning of the XX century and can be considered an example of great patriotism.
Despite this assessment, which will bring honor to every creator, it can be said with certainty that Arif Huseynov’s artistic-historical “Karabakhname” can be considered literally an artistic event in the field of fine arts of the new century…
Ziadkhan Aliev – Honored Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History
