The “Fly to Baku. Art Weekend. Sense the Future NOW” festival will open in Baku on October 30 for the second consecutive year, APA reports.
Initiated by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, the festival’s exhibition programme will bring together diverse artistic practices, generations and geographies, inviting audiences to engage with themes including memory, cultural heritage, nature, biodiversity, identity and the future.
The programme will include the official opening of “Art Weekend” and several exhibition launches at the Heydar Aliyev Center, as well as events at other venues across the city.
“Big Five” art collection to be displayed at Heydar Aliyev Center for first time
The “Big Five of the Caucasus” will be one of the key themes of this year’s “Art Weekend,” exploring the region’s biodiversity and the role of animals in cultural memory, mythology and collective identity.
The Heydar Aliyev Center will host “When Nature Speaks. Heirs,” a contemporary art exhibition conceived by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Featuring the Caucasian leopard, brown bear, grey wolf, golden eagle and goitered gazelle, the exhibition explores the relationship between humanity and nature, highlighting heritage, responsibility and the natural world we leave to future generations. It will bring together artists working in installation, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and mixed media.
Another project, “Legendary Creatures: An Azerbaijani Bestiary,” will be presented in the Heydar Aliyev Center’s park on October 30. Connecting the “Big Five” with mythological creatures from Azerbaijani folklore, it highlights the importance of preserving wildlife and cultural heritage. The exhibition will feature six works by six artists, including carpet art, sculpture, photography, metalwork and mixed media. All the works will be presented to the public for the first time as part of “Art Weekend.”
Chinese artist’s unconventional paintings to be exhibited at Heydar Aliyev Center
The Heydar Aliyev Center will host an exhibition titled “The Skin of Truth” by Chinese artist Zhang Ji on the opening day of Baku Art Weekend. Organized by the Center in collaboration with JD Malat Gallery, the exhibition will feature works from the artist’s “The Skin of Truth” and “Ultima” series, blending architectural motifs from different religious and cultural traditions with contemporary painting. Inspired by landmarks such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba and the Alhambra Palace, Zhang Ji uses a syringe instead of a brush to create raised surfaces reminiscent of bas-relief sculpture. His works have been exhibited internationally and included in collections worldwide.
On October 30, the Center will also present “What If Women Ruled the World?” by renowned American artist Judy Chicago, marking the project’s regional debut. Since 2022, it has developed a global archive spanning several countries. Visitors in Baku will be able to contribute to its next chapter by answering questions in an interactive recording booth.
Heydar Aliyev Center to showcase Pistoletto’s artwork combining mirrors and AI
On October 30, Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Mirror of Eternity will be presented at the Heydar Aliyev Center as part of Art Weekend.
The project employs artificial intelligence to combine human portraits, generating new faces that have never existed before. Participants upload their portraits to the system, which then merges them with another person’s portrait to create a new image. Each portrait thus exists not as a fixed record of memory, but as an evolving digital entity transformed through successive encounters. The project explores the relationship between humanity, memory, technology and the ever-changing nature of life.
The work has been exhibited internationally, including at The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach and India Art Fair in New Delhi in February 2026.
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