- Mentor
- Mentor
- Artist / Educator / Curator
- Sabina Shikhlinskaya is an established Azerbaijani artist, educator and independent curator. Well known for her early modernistic paintings, she started to explore multimedia practices as a pioneer of conceptual art in Azerbaijan in 1990s. Using her intercultural background, her artworks engage with complex relationships between culture, politics and identity. Dealing indirectly with political issues, she balances aesthetics and concept in her works that often verge towards the poetic. The artist has participated in numerous exhibitions as well as in biennials in Azerbaijan and internationally. She was the curator of the first Azerbaijani exhibition pavilion at 52 Venice Biennial. From 2013 she has been involved in educational programs for young artists. In 2022 Shikhlinskaya authored the concept and started the First School of Contemporary Art in Azerbaijan in partnership with YARAT. In 2025, Shikhlinskaya founded the AteshHub- an independent platform for emerging contemporary art practitioners.
- Curators
- Curators
- Curator / Manager
Bakhtiyar Ali is a curator and art manager working in the field of contemporary art and cultural programming. He worked at Yüksel Sabanci Art Center during 2018–2019 and later at Heydar Aliyev Center 2023–2024, contributing to the development and coordination of exhibitions and cultural projects. His practice includes exhibition concept development, artist relations, project coordination, and arts management. He is particularly interested in fostering dialogue between artists, institutions, and diverse audiences through interdisciplinary and contemporary art initiatives.
- Researcher
Murad Mir-Zada is an Azerbaijani architect, and researcher specializing in heritage architecture and restoration. His academic and professional formation spans multiple international contexts, including Baku, Istanbul, and Milan, where he has developed interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of architectural conservation, and research. His work engages critically with the preservation, interpretation, and reuse of historic environments, with particular attention to their cultural and urban significance. Mir-Zada is currently a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano), Italy, where his research focuses on heritage conservation and restoration methodologies. He is the recipient of several local and international architectural competition awards, reflecting both his design excellence and his commitment to advancing contemporary approaches to historic preservation. In addition to his architectural and academic work, Murad has pursued art curatorial studies, successfully completing the Contemporary Art School at YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku. As a independent curator this experience has expanded his engagement with contemporary art and exhibition practices, informing his interdisciplinary perspective on heritage, and cultural production.
- Critic / Curator
Mansura Mammadaliyeva is a Baku-based independent curator, feminist art researcher, and art critic. She received her BA and MA degrees from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts and worked for over a decade at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, where she gained extensive museum and archival experience. Her curatorial and research practice is grounded in creating a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. Mammadaliyeva prioritizes the development and promotion of conceptual and digital art practices, reinterpreting cultural and historical heritage within contemporary theoretical frameworks. Her research focuses on women’s experience, trauma, body, and identity, as well as miniature art, Qajar visual culture, and the invisibility of women artists in art history. She critically examines patriarchal models of art historiography and works toward constructing alternative and inclusive narratives. In recent years, ecofeminism and the relationship between women and nature have become central to her theoretical and curatorial discourse. Mansura Mammadaliyeva also delivers lectures and public talks on various platforms, contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge on the theoretical and historical dimensions of contemporary art. Selected curatorial projects include: • Changing Identities — YARAT Contemporary Art Space, 2025. • Pain and Desire — Fluxus Space, 2025. • Eshqi Nur — Palace of the Shirvanshahs, 2025. • Flowing Memory — Underground Bath, 2025. • Synchrony — Gazelli Art House Baku, 2025. Her work contributes to the development of theoretically grounded, feminist, and ecofeminist critical curatorial discourse within contemporary Azerbaijani art.
- Curator
Currently studying MA Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Independent Curator ,with seven years of experience in independent, community-driven cultural initiatives. Works with feminist and queer approaches through art collectives and participatory projects as strategies to challenge social and political power structures, institutional hierarchies, and colonial legacies. Experienced in organizing exhibitions and public programs, and in building collaborations with local and international artists to support autonomous, community-led art spaces as Salaam Cultural Temple.
- Managers
- Managers
- Art Manager
Agnessa Tariverdiyeva is an Art Manager and Project Coordinator based in Baku. Her practice focuses on the production and coordination of contemporary art exhibitions across museum, gallery, and heritage contexts. Her work involves close collaboration with artists and curators, supporting the realization of exhibitions from concept to installation, and facilitating projects that engage with cultural memory, site-specificity, and contemporary artistic practice. Projects Digital Art EXPO Megève, France 2026 Project coordination and representation of Azerbaijani digital artists within an international exhibition and NFT program Synchrony Gazelli Art House Baku 2025–2026 Project Coordinator for an exhibition exploring ecofeminism and transcorporeality in contemporary art Var Yox — Green Train Azerbaijan Railway Museum 2025–2026 Project Coordinator for the multimedia installation “Route: Historical Past, Station: Pirshagi” EŞQ-İ NUR Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Nasimi Festival 2025 Art Manager for an exhibition presented at a UNESCO World Heritage site, engaging contemporary art with the philosophical legacy of Nasimi Flowing Memory Fly to Baku Art Festival Underground Bathhouse, Icherisheher 2025 Art Manager for a site-specific exhibition examining memory, ritual, and cultural continuity Time of Nature — International Cultural Ecofeminism Festival Baku 2025 Art Manager coordinating exhibitions, public programs, and international artist participation across multiple cultural venues From Finite to Infinite YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku 2025 Exhibition project developed and presented within the YARAT Contemporary Art School program, supporting the realization of a contemporary art exhibition from concept to public presentation
- Art Manager
Zumrud Ismayilova is a project manager and exhibition curator specializing in the cultural and museum sector. She has extensive experience in managing local and international projects, exhibition curation, cultural diplomacy, and strategic communication. By building effective partnerships with institutions from various countries, she has contributed to the modern and innovative presentation of cultural heritage. She currently continues her work as a project manager, focusing on expanding creative collaborations, developing communication-driven cultural initiatives, and strengthening international partnerships.
- Critics
- Critics
- Critic / Curator
Mansura Mammadaliyeva is a Baku-based independent curator, feminist art researcher, and art critic. She received her BA and MA degrees from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts and worked for over a decade at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, where she gained extensive museum and archival experience. Her curatorial and research practice is grounded in creating a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. Mammadaliyeva prioritizes the development and promotion of conceptual and digital art practices, reinterpreting cultural and historical heritage within contemporary theoretical frameworks. Her research focuses on women’s experience, trauma, body, and identity, as well as miniature art, Qajar visual culture, and the invisibility of women artists in art history. She critically examines patriarchal models of art historiography and works toward constructing alternative and inclusive narratives. In recent years, ecofeminism and the relationship between women and nature have become central to her theoretical and curatorial discourse. Mansura Mammadaliyeva also delivers lectures and public talks on various platforms, contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge on the theoretical and historical dimensions of contemporary art. Selected curatorial projects include: • Changing Identities — YARAT Contemporary Art Space, 2025. • Pain and Desire — Fluxus Space, 2025. • Eshqi Nur — Palace of the Shirvanshahs, 2025. • Flowing Memory — Underground Bath, 2025. • Synchrony — Gazelli Art House Baku, 2025. Her work contributes to the development of theoretically grounded, feminist, and ecofeminist critical curatorial discourse within contemporary Azerbaijani art.
- Painter / Theatre decorator / Researcher
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts, and completed his Master’s degrees in Art History at the same institution and in Theatre-Decorative Painting at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. He also attended YARAT Contemporary Art School. His artistic practice is built around abstract themes such as emotion and philosophical thought. His works depict the individual’s dialogues with space/nature, society, and the self across various conceptual contexts. He primarily works with oil on canvas. Among his recent exhibitions and projects are: “Art and Weapon: Traditional Azerbaijani Weapons Through the Eyes of Artists” (Azerbaijan Carpet Museum), “Eshq-i Nur” within the Nasimi Festival (Shirvanshahs' Palace), “Building Bridges” (Austrian Residence in Baku), “Caspian Corporealities” (Performance Week at YARAT), and “From Finite to Infinite” (Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the 20th–21st Centuries). Alongside his practical work, he is also engaged in the theoretical field of art and writes articles and essays, including: “Reflection of Thought in Contemporary Azerbaijani Painting” (Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan / “Culture” Journal) and “The Concept of Innovation in Contemporary Visual Art” (Scientific Papers of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts). His recent panel discussions and lectures include: A Speech on Creativity (Baku Business University), Salon Talk Series (Austrian Residence in Baku), “Art of Intelligence: You, Machine, or Co-creation?” (YARAT), and “Brief History and Structure of Modern Art of Azerbaijan” (Museum of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts).
- Curator / Manager
Bakhtiyar Ali is a curator and art manager working in the field of contemporary art and cultural programming. He worked at Yüksel Sabanci Art Center during 2018–2019 and later at Heydar Aliyev Center 2023–2024, contributing to the development and coordination of exhibitions and cultural projects. His practice includes exhibition concept development, artist relations, project coordination, and arts management. He is particularly interested in fostering dialogue between artists, institutions, and diverse audiences through interdisciplinary and contemporary art initiatives.
- Artists
- Artists
- Lens-based Visual Artist & Conceptual Photographer
born in 1990 on the Caspian coast of the South Caucasus, currently based in Berlin. He is a conceptual photographer working with experimental photographic processes and monotype-based image making. His practice combines documentary observation with overlaid personal vision, exploring perception, memory, and symbolic moments of Human experience. Through complex printing techniques and spatial presentation, Mathers creates immersive photographic masterpieces that invite viewers to reconsider the depth of reality and the relationship between science, spirituality, and contemporary life.
Driven by a desire to expand perception, Mathers approaches photography as a medium where memory, meditative immersion into the present moment, and imagination intersect. His large-scale works function as visual portals that challenge conventional notions of four dimensions and perception. His ongoing exploration of interconnection of light and imagination seeks to unravel the mysteries of human consciousness, propelling forward the metamodernist movement. The long-term project NØVA III explores the cosmic scale of imagination and its relationship to avant-garde of scientific knowledge in physics and astronomy. Other projects include Oilbow, translating the condition and voice of the Caspian Sea, Roots & Branches sharing senses and feelings of trees and Eye SpectOcularity, an ongoing exploration of soul through communication with the human gaze and sincerity.
Emin Mathers' contributions to the art world extend beyond individual projects, evidenced by his participation in notable exhibitions and acquisitions by various private and museum collections. Mathers’ work has been presented in international exhibitions including Oilbow on Watch to Hear at the KOLGA Tbilisi Photo Festival and NØVA III on ESQ-i NUR by AteshHub at NASIMI Festival. He has participated in NFT New York (2023–2025), reflecting his engagement with ethereal contexts for conceptual photography. Selected works from his project NØVA III are included in the LUNAR CODEX archival mission, a cultural archive scheduled to be delivered in mid 2026 to the south pole of the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program. He continues to captivate audiences worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary artscape.
- Pixel artist / Production designer
Nigassandra (Nigar Safarova) is an Azerbaijani artist/florist, educated inProduction Design at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts. She is distinguished by her sensitive approach to color and composition. Working particularly in pixel art, she combines this aesthetic language with contemporary conceptual thinking, creating visual narratives within digital environments. The exhibitions she has participated in — “Splendor and Magnifience”(Salam Cinema Baku 2024), “Voices”(Zaman art gallery 2024), “Fly to Baku – Flow State”(Kichik Gala Art 2025) “Green Train” (Railway Museum 2025), and “Matrix” (Yarat contemporary art space 2026)— explore themes of space, movement, memory, and inner transformation. Her work balances poetic visual expression with conceptual depth, inviting viewers into an experience that moves between nostalgia and a vision of the future.
- Contemporary art performer / Choreography / Researcher
Lenay Seidali-zade is a contemporary performance artist, choreographer, researcher, and founder of independent dance schools. Her work explores the relationship between body, text, and collective experience. With an initial academic background in law, she brings analytical structure and conceptual precision into her artistic practice. She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Moscow in 2016 and has been working in the legal field for over 12 years. In 2022, she completed her second higher education degree as a choreographer. In 2024, she defended her Master’s thesis in History and Theory of Choreographic Art. Her research focuses on the philosophy of dance and dance as a therapeutic practice, particularly the influence of movement on human consciousness and psychological well-being. In 2022–2023, she completed the YARAT Contemporary Art School under the mentorship of Honored Artist Sabina Shixlinskaya. In her performative and choreographic works, the body becomes text and text transforms into movement. She approaches the audience not as passive observers, but as participants and carriers of meaning. In 2022, she presented the performance “Ephemera” at the exhibition AD INFINITUM. In 2023, at the exhibition “I Was Searching for the Salvation from Sorrow”, she presented “My Gentle Smile”, a two-channel looping video dedicated to her grandmother. In 2025, within the framework of the Nasimi Festival, at the exhibition “EŞQ-İ NUR”, she presented the performance “Stripping the Word”. She also has extensive experience in event management, is the founder of independent dance schools and educational initiatives, and is the author of the original “Dance Lab” project she developed many years ago. Her artistic goal is to transform art from observation into lived experience, positioning the body as a living carrier of meaning.
- Photographer / Digital Artist
- Contemporary performance / Scientific artist-researcher / Photographer
Graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts in Baku, majoring in Textile Art. Graduated from the Royal School of Traditional Arts in London. Successfully completed the Contemporary Art School program at YARAT. Works: Life performance “All and Nothing” at the exhibition “Between the Sky and the Earth”, Heydar Aliyev Center. Performance “The Way” at the exhibition “Keçmiş nəsillərdən qalan izlər”, YARAT ARTIM. Life performance “The Black is the Colour of the Absolute” as part of the “Night at the Museum” project, YARAT.
- Multidisciplinary visual artist / Cultural practitioner
His practice engages with video art, site-specific installation, performance, focusing on themes of visibility, vulnerability, and the human body within political and social contexts shaped by prolonged conflict and systemic pressure. He is a graduate of the Contemporary Art School in Baku and a member of AteshHub, an independent artist union for emerging practitioners in Azerbaijan. His work explores how bodies, environments, and power structures intersect, using artistic research as a tool for critical reflection and collective inquiry. “Eşqi-Nur” group exhibition by AteshHub in ShirvanShah Palace, Old Town/ artist/ 2025 “Words said about water to water” solo performance in YARAT Contemporary Art Space/ performer/ 2025 “From Finite to Infinite” final exhibition of the YARAT Contemporary Art School in Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the XX-XXI Centuries/ artist/ 2025 “Another kind of Climate” group exhibition organized by Goethe Institute in Baku/ artist/ 2024 “Human energy” project cooperate with Cec ArtsLink and Jessica Segall/ performer/ 2023 "BEYOND COMFORT TO RADICAL INTIMACY" intensive training with Nazmiye Oral and Adelheid Roosen/ Salaam Cinema Baku/ performer/ 2023
- Nano artist
Nargiz Ramizgizi Asgarova (b.1991) is a digital Azerbaijani artist engaged in nano-art. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Restoration and Expertise of Artworks from the Faculty of Art Studies at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts. She also completed professional development in “Photographic Art” at the St. Petersburg Institute of Film and Television in Russia and studied at the YARAT-Modern Art School. She has participated in various international festivals and exhibitions, including the Empow’Her project, the International Nanoart Festival, the Istanbul Digital Art Festival, the International Gurama Festival, the 10th Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Arts (2nd place), and the 2nd Saudi International Handcrafts Week (Banana), the International Carpet Festival, Ecofeminism Pop-ap Festival, Nesimi Festival, Fly to Baku Festival, ICPAM-17 (Japan) among others. Artist Statement Nanoart is a form of digital art that makes the invisible visible. In this approach, the primary tool is the electron microscope, which reveals nano-level structures, forms, and details that exist beyond the limits of human perception. For me, this invisible world becomes a visual language where beauty, color, and form are rediscovered. The digital images obtained through the electron microscope are processed using specialized software to create photographic-like visuals. These images are not scientific documentation but serve as raw visual material for creative exploration. I approach this practice not as a biologist or chemist, but solely as an artist. My goal is to take viewers on a visual journey into a world that is usually accessible only in laboratories-a world invisible to most-and transform it into an artistic experience that everyone can understand. In my works, I explore the nano-life of the bio-world we encounter in our daily lives, transforming familiar elements into extraordinary visual forms. My focus is not on the objects themselves under the microscope, but on how I perceive them, how they take shape in my imagination, and how I transform them into a visual image.
- Contemporary art performer / Choreography / Researcher
Lenay Seidali-zade is a contemporary performance artist, choreographer, researcher, and founder of independent dance schools. Her work explores the relationship between body, text, and collective experience. With an initial academic background in law, she brings analytical structure and conceptual precision into her artistic practice. She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Moscow in 2016 and has been working in the legal field for over 12 years. In 2022, she completed her second higher education degree as a choreographer. In 2024, she defended her Master’s thesis in History and Theory of Choreographic Art. Her research focuses on the philosophy of dance and dance as a therapeutic practice, particularly the influence of movement on human consciousness and psychological well-being. In 2022–2023, she completed the YARAT Contemporary Art School under the mentorship of Honored Artist Sabina Shixlinskaya. In her performative and choreographic works, the body becomes text and text transforms into movement. She approaches the audience not as passive observers, but as participants and carriers of meaning. In 2022, she presented the performance “Ephemera” at the exhibition AD INFINITUM. In 2023, at the exhibition “I Was Searching for the Salvation from Sorrow”, she presented “My Gentle Smile”, a two-channel looping video dedicated to her grandmother. In 2025, within the framework of the Nasimi Festival, at the exhibition “EŞQ-İ NUR”, she presented the performance “Stripping the Word”. She also has extensive experience in event management, is the founder of independent dance schools and educational initiatives, and is the author of the original “Dance Lab” project she developed many years ago. Her artistic goal is to transform art from observation into lived experience, positioning the body as a living carrier of meaning.
- Multimedia Artist / Sculptor
Sabina Jafar transforms familiar reality into an objectified and surreal environment, questioning what reality truly is. She is an artist and visual storyteller whose practice is built on visual metaphors and symbolic languages. Drawing inspiration from the intersection of cinema, installation, mask-making, and puppet art, she brings together the boundaries of surrealism and reality. Transcending traditional forms, her works present the fragility of human nature through a language of visual poetics. ### Exhibitions * Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the 20th–21st Centuries – *“Intermittent Infinity”* (video art), 2025 * Gazelli Art House – *“Wild Suspects”* (sculpture and photography), 2026 * Sevil International Women’s Documentary Film Festival – *“Ortaq”* (short film), 2024 * Baku International Short Film Festival – *“Sonlular”* (short film), 2022
- Digital Artist / Mixedmedia / Multimedia Conceptual Artist
Ramil Mammadli is a digital and conceptual artist from Baku, Azerbaijan. Before entering the visual art world, he was deeply involved in hip-hop culture as a dancer, where he developed a strong sense of rhythm, movement, and spatial awareness — elements that now define his artistic language. His works explore the intersection of technology, faith, memory, and the human soul through abstract cyber-futuristic compositions. He is the creator of the “Soul System” and “SF (Synaptic Faith)” collections, in which the circle symbolizes the soul navigating digital structures. Ramil has participated in international exhibitions across Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy, France, Belgium, China, and the United States. “METACODE” Group exhbition, YARAT Painting Museum (2022) “Colours of Joy“ / Beijing(Dany2023) “NFT.NYC“ (2023) (New York) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2023) “Link between worlds“ / Florence, Italy(2024) “NFT.NYC“ (2024)( New York) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Online gallery(2024) “NFT_CC“ / Naples, Italy (2024) “Meet Gallery“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Summer (2024) “ArtCrush“ - Builders DAO / Gent, Belgium (2024) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “Notte Bianca” Minervino Murge (BAT), Italy(2024) “Infinity Lab“ (2024) “NFT Paris” - Builders DAO (Paris, France) (2025) “Arnica Artland” Kutahya (2025) “Nesimi Festival /Esq-i-nur” Baku (2025) “Collective Delusion” Italy/Bologna (2025) “Sacri Sguardi“ / Museo Archeologico degli Ipogei / Trinitrapoli/ Italy (2026) “Digital Art Expo“ Megève 2026 (2026) “Ataturk Kultur Muzesi / Kibeleden Aba Sultana“ / Istanbul / Turkey (2026)
- Photographer
Huseyn Jalil is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice traverses the intersections of art and science, encompassing visual arts, land art, photography, video, and experimental media. Grounded in biology, his work investigates the morphologies and adaptive systems of living organisms, transforming scientific inquiry into a visual language. His early fascination with entomology and microbiology evolved into a conceptual framework where biological phenomena become metaphors for perception and transformation. Huseyn’s journey as an artist is rooted in a diverse educational background. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, and his Master’s from the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction. He further expanded his practice through the YARAT Contemporary Art School, where he deepened the engagement with contemporary methodologies and interdisciplinary experimentation. These formative experiences shaped his hybrid approach, bridging empirical research with conceptual and aesthetic exploration. At the core of his inquiry lies an enduring drive toward experimentation, a curiosity that has accompanied him since childhood. Huseyn is guided by an urge to observe how one element influences another and what may emerge from their interaction. Through light manipulation, chemical processes, and iterative gestures, he constructs works that evoke the continuous motion of ecosystems and the recursive patterns underlying existence. Repetition, for him, is a means of uncovering the unknown. The more a gesture or form is repeated, the more it transforms, generating something unforeseen. His works often feature recurring dots and stains, forming visual “windows” into indeterminate spaces: suspended entities of uncertain scale or existence, perceptible yet elusive. FORA “My work is driven by experiment, by the impulse to explore the possible”. Huseyn Jalil b. 2002, Goychay, Azerbaijan www.fora-gallery.com ©FORA 2025 EDUCATION 2025 “Repeat Until Awake” / Fluxus Frequency Space, Baku, Azerbaijan 2024 Trendyol Sanat x BASE, Istanbul, Turkiye 2023 “Fluxus Frequency Collective” / Gazelli Art House, Baku, Azerbaijan 2023 “Babil 2.0” / YARAT, Baku, Azerbaijan 2023 “Metacode” / YARAT, Baku, Azerbaijan FORA Solo Exhibitions Positioning himself between the roles of artist and naturalist, Huseyn examines the symbiotic relationships between humanity and the natural world. Through these dynamics, the artist investigates the interplay between human culture and the natural environment, exploring biodiversity, evolutionary adaptation, and the ethical dimensions of human intervention in nature. He views the environment as an essential foundation for the construction of human culture. 2023 - 2025 MA degree at Azerbaijan University Of Architecture and Construction 2022 - 2023 YARAT Contemporary Art School 2019 - 2023 BA degree at Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts Housed within private collections. Museums and Collections.
- Visual artist / Graphic designer
Lamia Kamilova (b. 2000, Azerbaijan) is a visual artist and graphic designer working across printmaking, typography, calligraphy, editorial design, and serigraphy. She graduated as valedictorian from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Near East University and has worked in institutional and international contexts, including the United Nations Climate Change Conference and Baku TV. Her projects (Malevich; Chess Zine) have received recognition at the Azerbaijan Design Award and the Azerbaijan Design Summit. In 2024–2025 she continued her artistic development at YARAT Contemporary Art School; her artworks were exhibited in From Finite to Infinite at the Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the XX–XXI Centuries. She is currently involved in exhibition projects at Ateş Hub.
- Artist / Graphic Designer
Ayten Abdullayeva is an artist and graphic designer, born on November 8, 1989, in Baku, Azerbaijan. She received her Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art, where she studied from 2008 to 2012. She continued her education at the same university, earning a Master’s degree in Design and Technical Aesthetics between 2012 and 2014. Since 2019, she has been pursuing a PhD at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts. Additionally, she completed a program at the First YARAT Contemporary Art School from 2022 to 2023. She held her first solo exhibition in 2017 titled “CARO”, which explored themes related to meat and butchers. In 2019, she presented her second solo exhibition, “Stockholm – Island on Columns,” organized by the Embassy of Sweden in Azerbaijan. Ayten Abdullayeva has participated in several notable exhibitions, including Green Train (Var.Yox, 2025), Flight to Baku. Art Weekend. Feel Our Future NOW (Heydar Aliyev Foundation & IDEA, 2025), EŞQ-İ NUR (Nasimi Festival, 2025), the second edition of Her Art in Action (Var.Yox, 2025), in I Was Looking for Medicine from My Troubles (YARAT, 2023), Mystery of Details in Far Horizons (YARAT, 2017), the painting Life in Chains in Isolation Room (YARAT, 2015), and Detector of Knowledge in Invasion. Museum 2014 (YARAT, 2014); she was awarded first place in the Sea Pearl International Arts Festival (Bulgaria, 2014), participated in the From Waste to Art exhibition with the collage Scream (Azerbaijan, 2013), and exhibited at the International Student Triennial (Marmara University, Turkey, 2010). She has also participated in various other exhibitions and art projects held in Azerbaijan and abroad. In 2010, she became a member of the Advertising Union of Azerbaijan, and in 2017, she joined the Union of Azerbaijani Artists.
- Contemporary Artist
Baku, Azerbaijan | Utrecht, Netherlands Education: BA in Painting (2021), YARAT Contemporary Art School (2022). Born March 1, 2000, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Currently based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Her work is not confined to a single style; It’s at the intersection of the modern, contemporary, and digital art. Exhibitions • 2016: "The Future of Tolerance" exhibition, Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. • 2016: "Light of Science" Public Union exhibition, Baku Academy of Music named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli. • 2017: "Union of Creative Women" exhibition, Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, Baku. • 2018: "Union of Creative Women" exhibition, Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. • 2018: "Formula 1 Races in Azerbaijan – A Country of Multiculturalism" exhibition, Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. •2019: 5th "World Art Games" festival, Belgrad, Serbia. • 2019: "New Breath" exhibition, Azerbaijan State Art Gallery (ADRQ). • 2021: Baku Book Center, Solo Exhibition. • 2021: ROOM Baku, "Instincts" Solo Exhibition. • 2023: YARAT Contemporary Art Space, ARTIM, Final Group Exhibition, “Dərman Arardım Dərdimə”.
- Multimedia Artist
Baku, Azerbaijan Born: November 26, 1981, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Multimedia artist. Education 1998-2002 Azerbaijan University of Languages (Baku, Azerbaijan Republic) Faculty of English Philology - bachelor’s degree. 2002-2005 Azerbaijan University of Languages (Baku, Azerbaijan Republic) Faculty of English Philology - master’s degree. 2002-2004 Azerbaijan State Economic University (Baku, Azerbaijan Republic) Finance and Credit Faculty - Retraining diploma. 2024 - 2025 YARAT Contemporary Art School. 2022- present Baku Choreography Academy (Baku, Azerbaijan Republic) Ph.D. student of «Theory, analysis, and criticism of art» specialty. Exhibitions 2022: “Spring Rhapsody”, Huma Art Room gallery 2024: With the support of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, Culture Route International Festival. Turkey. 2025: Within the framework of the FLY TO BAKU festival, “FLOW STATE” exhibition, Kiçik QalArt Gallery. 2025: YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Final Group Exhibition, “From Finite to Infinite”. 2026: YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Exhibition: “Matrix”. Upcoming 2026: Qgallery, Exhibition: “March 8”. Upcoming 2026: With the support of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan. Turkey. Author of 14 academic articles.
- Contemporary Artist / Concept Developer
Diana Emchiyeva is a contemporary artist and visual thinker working between Baku and Europe. Her practice explores the intersection of personal and collective experience, examining identity, psychological perception, and the symbolic structures that shape contemporary society. In 2025, she participated in the exhibition “From Finite to Infinity” at YARAT Contemporary Art Space within the framework of Sabina Shikhlinskaya’s author school, presenting the installation Whatever Your Origin. The project addressed themes of belonging, external pressure, and inner agency through spatial metaphor and visual systems. As part of the exhibition program, she spoke on the artists’ panel about the historical formation of artificial intelligence, its operational principles, and its relationship to contemporary art practices. Her research approaches AI as a continuation of system-based thinking in art and an evolving model of authorship. Parallel to her artistic work, Diana is a designer at Bakı Abadlıq Xidməti, where she develops visual solutions for products originating from Karabakh. This experience allows her to engage deeply with Azerbaijani cultural codes and contribute to shaping contemporary design language. Born in Belarus and working within Azerbaijani cultural space, she approaches culture not as an abstraction but as lived experience — observed, studied, and translated into visual form. As the visual creator of Atəş Hub’s social media presence, she builds a coherent narrative identity for the platform, transforming its intellectual and cultural mission into accessible visual communication. Her work strengthens the Hub’s positioning while expanding its dialogue with a broader audience. Across all projects, her guiding principles remain consistent: integrity in expression, attentiveness to detail, and observation as a method. For Diana, art and design function as tools of reflection — precise instruments for understanding reality rather than decorative statements.
- Digital Artist / Mixedmedia / Multimedia Conceptual Artist
Ramil Mammadli is a digital and conceptual artist from Baku, Azerbaijan. Before entering the visual art world, he was deeply involved in hip-hop culture as a dancer, where he developed a strong sense of rhythm, movement, and spatial awareness — elements that now define his artistic language. His works explore the intersection of technology, faith, memory, and the human soul through abstract cyber-futuristic compositions. He is the creator of the “Soul System” and “SF (Synaptic Faith)” collections, in which the circle symbolizes the soul navigating digital structures. Ramil has participated in international exhibitions across Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy, France, Belgium, China, and the United States. “METACODE” Group exhbition, YARAT Painting Museum (2022) “Colours of Joy“ / Beijing(Dany2023) “NFT.NYC“ (2023) (New York) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2023) “Link between worlds“ / Florence, Italy(2024) “NFT.NYC“ (2024)( New York) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Online gallery(2024) “NFT_CC“ / Naples, Italy (2024) “Meet Gallery“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Summer (2024) “ArtCrush“ - Builders DAO / Gent, Belgium (2024) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “Notte Bianca” Minervino Murge (BAT), Italy(2024) “Infinity Lab“ (2024) “NFT Paris” - Builders DAO (Paris, France) (2025) “Arnica Artland” Kutahya (2025) “Nesimi Festival /Esq-i-nur” Baku (2025) “Collective Delusion” Italy/Bologna (2025) “Sacri Sguardi“ / Museo Archeologico degli Ipogei / Trinitrapoli/ Italy (2026) “Digital Art Expo“ Megève 2026 (2026) “Ataturk Kultur Muzesi / Kibeleden Aba Sultana“ / Istanbul / Turkey (2026).
- Photographer
Photographer Fidan Nazim qizi (b. 1991, Azerbaijan) graduated from Baku State University in 2016 with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in "Librarianship and Information". She studied at Light and Composition University - Diploma in the Fundamentals of Photography and YARAT - School of Contemporary Art. After working in the library for years, she worked in the field of accounting, but in recent years she has focused all his attention on photography. She often finds answers to her questions about photography in underground libraries. Years later, she is making handmade photo books under the influence of the library. She makes the papers he finds mostly from underground libraries and unused sheets of paper from her friends. The main theme of her work is calmness, old age and feelings. She also works on projects covering various social issues. She prints and tones in his home lab using an alternative method called "Cyanotype" that has been in use since 1843. She currently works as an editor and photographer for the photography collective Fieldeye Notes. Exhibitions she participated in “CipFestival, (Greece,2020), “A Letter” (F37union, Bakı, 2021), Blank Wall Gallery (Greece, 2021), LMA (Berlin,Germany, 2021) “Elevate” (AFPA,USA,2021), Women in Photography (Gazelli Art House, Varyox, Bakı, 2022), Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival (2022), LMA (Porto, Portugal, 2022), “Bursa Photo Fest” (Turkey, 2022) LensCulture Black and White Photography Awards Gallery (2023), ARTIM, YARAT Müasir İncəsənət Məktəbinin tələbələrinin yekun buraxılış sərgisi (Bakı, 2023 ), “Force of Love” (Nargiz Magazine, Bakı 2023), Week of Art (Georgia, 2023) və s. Fotolarının istifadə edildiyi kitab və jurnallar - “Saudade” (Germany, Berlin,2020), BNW Awards, Light and Shadow (Tokio, Japan, 2021) “The Black and White Hue of the City” (Street Photo Magazine, 2021), “Women Warriours of Azerbaijan” (The Pictorial List, 2023), “Gelatin” Mag (Florida, Usa 2021), Shoot it with film (2023), “Pourtant” (France, Paris, 2022), Femlens Documentary Photography (2023), Baku Magazine (2024), Esq-İ Nur (2025) and etc.
- Conceptual artist / Designer
Agamali Aliyev (b. 1996, Baku) is a multimedia artist. In 2014, he graduated from the Aircraft Technical Operation Engineering Faculty of the National Aviation Academy of Azerbaijan. He also completed the one-year program at YARAT Contemporary Art School. In his artistic practice, he approaches the themes he explores through a satirical and absurd lens. He primarily works with animation and video art. The artist has participated in a number of group exhibitions and festivals, including: “Between Earth and Sky” (Heydar Aliyev Center, 2023); “Babylon 2” (ARTIM Project Space, 2023); Qurama Art Festival (Baku Photography House, 2023); DOESN’T MAKE SENSE?! (with Fidan Nazim, 2024, ARTIM Art Space); and the V Booktrailer Festival (2nd place for “Penguins Fly, Mari”, 2020)..
- Writer / Playwright / Actor / Performance artist
Ilgar Aydin is currently a member of Ritual Theatre, where he works as an actor and playwright. He writes plays in various genres and collaborates with O2 Theatre. For five years, he was active at Salaam Cinema Baku, a cultural space where he participated in various theatre and writing laboratories and served as the coordinator of the Writing Laboratory. He organized literary events, including writing workshops, poetry evenings, Poetry Slam competitions, masterclasses, lectures, and discussions. Through his creative work, he seeks to create a “mirror effect” between the individual and society. He considers the ability of art to awaken emotions in people as one of its essential functions. In his works, he presents the dialogue between the individual and society across different themes, constructing performances and productions built around a strong dramaturgical line. Selected Projects and Exhibitions: Salaam Cinema Theatre Laboratory – “Human,” “Post-Truth,” and “What Is Art?” (actor). Writing Laboratory – Three short stories published in “The Party of the Isolated”. Coordinator in the preparation of Qafar Rustamov’s book “Mujahids”. Organization of book presentations for young writers. Preparation of staged scenes for literary evenings. Organization and promotion of Poetry Slam competitions. “We Are Not a Shadow” – project on queer and women’s representation in literature. “Women’s Time on the Literary Stage” – artistic director, host, and coordinator. Film, Theatre, and Performance Activities. Jessica Segal – Human Energy project (performance). Actor in a film directed by Suad Gara. “Artım” project – performer at Maksim Tatarintsev’s MONO exhibition. ADO Theatre – “Persephone’s Return” (visual performance). GenderHub Azerbaijan & Gazelli Art House – “Women and Conflicts” project (performance). Ritual Theatre – “The Melting Snow Stories of Baku” (actor). Ritual Theatre – “I Will Keep You Alive” (actor and playwright). O2 Theatre – “Alive” (performance). YARAT – “Caspian Corporealities” Performance Week. Open Space Tbilisi – “I Will Keep You Alive” (actor). O2 Theatre – “Norma” (Director: Mikayil Mardinli; based on a poem by Leyli Salaeva) – actor. Directed by Tatyana Shugalina – “The Fish” (actor). YARAT – “Matrix” group exhibition. Ritual Theatre – Playwright of “The Trial”.
- Conceptual artist / Performer / Illustrator
Aliya The Mushroom (b. 07.07.2000 Baku, Azerbaijan) is a conceptual artist, performer, illustrator, writer and copywriter working at Baku Media Center. My alias Mushroom is inspired by magic mushrooms, not as an endorsement of their use, but as a metaphorical gateway. Through my work, I invite people to experience the transformative essence of a magic mushroom journey in a legal and artistic way: by engaging with my artworks, experiential pieces, and performances. In my work, I create parallel worlds where no human foot has ever set, imagined realities that serve as landscapes for self-discovery. Within these worlds, the journey of the self unfolds in unexpected ways, sometimes intersecting with science. My practice emerges at the crossroads of chemistry and art, where rational inquiry and sensory wonder collide. As a writer, I draw deeply from Azerbaijani folklore and mythology. I reinterpret traditional Azerbaijani folk tales through a postmodern lens, adapting ancient stories to reflect the sensibilities and challenges of our contemporary moment. Education. Bachelor of Chemistry teacher Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University (2017 – 2021) Master of Chemistry engineering Azerbaijan State İndustry and Oil University (2022 – 2024) Yarat Contemporary Art School Artist (2024 – 2025) Exhibitions “Finite to Infinite” , Yarat. Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the XX-XXI Centuries – Group exhibition, 2025 “Free to Dream” , Her Art in Action, Union of Azerbaijan Artists – Group Exhibition, 2025 “Once a sea” , Yarat, Group Exhibition, 2025
- Digital 2D animator / illustrator
Digital artist based in Baku, Azerbaijan. Graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts with a BA in Modern Art in 2023. She continued her education at YARAT Contemporary Art School, graduating in 2024. She works as a graphic designer, children’s book illustrator, and 2D frame-by-frame animation artist. Her practice centers on animation as an emotional and conceptual medium. Rather than static images, she creates experiences through movement and sound. Using simple elements to represent complex ideas and inner states, her work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and form personal interpretations. She is particularly interested in the moment when an abstract idea suddenly becomes clear and tangible to the viewer. She explores the themes of infinity, identity, the cycle of life and legacy. Exhibitions: From Finite to Infinite, group exhibition, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, January 2025 Eshq-i Nur, group exhibition, Shirvanshahlar Palace, September 2025 MATRIX, group exhibition, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, February 2026
- Sculptor
My first education was Electrical Engineering at ADAU, and my second education was Sculpture at ADRA. During my engineering career and when I worked in this field, I was in contact with iron wires every day. After becoming a sculptor, I decided to combine these two arts, and my current creative direction emerged. In my creative direction, iron wire acts as the main means of expression. This material, with its both rigid and elastic properties, symbolizes the nature of human existence - the dialogue between limitations and freedom. This approach is not just a visual expression, but also a form of philosophical analysis. The installations and sculptures I exhibit invite the viewer to rethink the concepts of boundaries and borderlessness, to understand the possibility of spiritual freedom within the rigid framework of material reality. Exhibitions; 2021 "Sea of the Unquenchable Sun" ANIIA 2021 "Two Worlds Can Fit in Me" MDB contries 2022 "Oh, Your Heroic Son" National Museum of History of Azerbaijan 2023 "Choice" YARAT 2023 "Karabakh Horse" Tbilisi Sculptors and Architects Association 2024 "Bridge of Hope" Karabakh Revival Foundation 2024 "Four Elements" cop29 2025 "Balance of Life" Italy Palozzo Mandrilli 2025 "Towards Perfection" Eshgi Nur/ Nasimi Festival 2025 "Singing the Ocean" Fly to Baku 2025 "Nature's Path" Green Train Group Exhibition/ Var Yox
- Tapestry / Textile Mixed Media Artist
Jale Azizova is a tapestry and textile mixed media artist. In her practice, she works with weaving, embroidery, and various textile techniques, transforming old fabrics into yarn to explore themes of memory, time, and identity. Through layered surfaces, color transitions, and traditional motifs, she creates a dialogue between tradition and contemporary expression. Her works have been exhibited in local and international exhibitions, including Blazar. EXHIBITIONS ASCO Ship Museum / 2018 Azerbaijan State Painting Union / 2018 National Azerbaijan History Museum / 2019 BLAZAR / YAY GALLERY / 2024 BASE ISTANBUL / SANAT NE YAPAR? / 2024 YARAT CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE / From finite to infinite / 2025 VAR YOX / FREE TO DREAM / 2025 Zen / 2025 ARNICA ART LAND / 2025 Gazelli Art House / Situated Selves 2025 Gazelli Art House / Liquid Time / Fly to Baku 2025 Esq-i-nur / 2025 Gazelli Art House / Synchrony 2025 Ataturk Kultur Muzesi / Kibeleden Aba Sultana“ / Istanbul / Turkey (2026)
- Multimedia artist
Fidan Humbatli is a multimedia artist (ceramics, printmaking, installation, performance) based in Baku and Prague. Her practice centers on allegorical storytelling. She explores cultural memory, social issues, with a particular focus on the role of women in society. Her work creates a dialogue between tradition and contemporary realities, emphasizing the transformative power of art. Her recent projects include group exhibitions such as “Her Art in Action” (Gazelli Art House, 2024, 2025), “9 Different” (EU Delegation Residency, 2023), and “Traces of Past Generation” (Artim Project Space, 2023), as well as earlier exhibitions at the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan and international residencies in Germany and Georgia.
- Video Artist / Designer / Animator
Aylin Alakbarli is a New York based artist and designer working across film, animation, and experimental media. She received her MFA from the Yale School of Art in 2025, where she developed a practice rooted in cinematic storytelling and layered visual language. With an earlier background in geophysical engineering, she approaches image-making with both analytical precision and poetic sensitivity. Her work has screened at multiple festivals and explores themes of language, intimacy, and perception through warm, immersive forms. Exhibitions and festivals: 2025 Eşq-i Nur Group Exhibition. Shirvanshah’s Palace, Baku, Azerbaijan An Oblique Character Group Exhibition. New Haven CT Crossing 橫水 Group Exhibition. Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong Upward Spiral Group Exhibition. New Haven, CT 2024 Neum Underwater Film Festival Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina Scottish Queer International Film Festival Glasgow, Scotland Film One Fest Atlantic Highlands, NJ Voronezh International Animation Festival Voronezh, Russian Federation Lift-Off Filmmaker Session Pinewood Studios. Iver, England 2023 Bountiful Gathering WQED Studio. Pittsburgh, PA Animation Night 2 Yale University. New Haven, CT Meeting of the Minds Festival Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA Khabarovsk International Animation Film Festival “Animur” Khabarovsk, Russian Federation Animal Humane Feline Film Festival Albuquerque, NM 6th ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival Baku, Azerbaijan Student World Impact Film Festival New York City, NY This Design is Very Human Group Exhibition. New Haven, CT In Between, ZAZ Corner, ZAZ 10TS New York City, NY why do i always fall out of the bed at night New Haven, CT
- Conceptual Artist
Tamira Ibrahim is a conceptual multidisciplinary artist based in Baku, Azerbaijan. She graduated from the Azerbaijan University of Languages (2018) and brings extensive experience in project and event management into her artistic practice, treating production, research, and collaboration as integral parts of the work. Her practice is rooted in storytelling and developed through mobile photography, video-based approaches, and installation. Ibrahim often focuses on geometric structures in architecture—capturing rhythm, repetition, and spatial order—while drawing on Azerbaijani traditions and cultural memory as living source material. She approaches tradition not as a fixed archive, but as an inherited, embodied knowledge—what she describes as a form of genetic memory carried through gesture, image, and ritual. Rather than quoting heritage directly, she reinterprets it through a contemporary, frequently abstract visual language that moves between documentation and constructed narrative. In 2023, she presented her first audio-visual installation within the Contemporary Art School by YARAT. Her works have since been shown in local and international exhibition contexts. Selected Exhibitions • 2023 — Traces from the Past Generations — YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan • 2023 — II National Qurama Festival — “Icherisheher” State Historical-Architectural Reserve, Baku, Azerbaijan • 2024 — III National Qurama Festival — “Icherisheher” State Historical-Architectural Reserve, Baku, Azerbaijan • 2025 — Her Art in Action: Free to Dream — VarYox, Baku, Azerbaijan • 2025 — What is Your Name? — Azerbaijan National Painting Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan • 2025 — Giovani Emozioni — Palazzo Mandrilli Gallery, Cassine, Italy • 2025 — Green Train — VarYox & Azerbaijan Railways Museum, Baku, Azerbaijan
- Painter / Theatre decorator / Researcher
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts, and completed his Master’s degrees in Art History at the same institution and in Theatre-Decorative Painting at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. He also attended YARAT Contemporary Art School. His artistic practice is built around abstract themes such as emotion and philosophical thought. His works depict the individual’s dialogues with space/nature, society, and the self across various conceptual contexts. He primarily works with oil on canvas. Among his recent exhibitions and projects are: “Art and Weapon: Traditional Azerbaijani Weapons Through the Eyes of Artists” (Azerbaijan Carpet Museum), “Eshq-i Nur” within the Nasimi Festival (Shirvanshahs' Palace), “Building Bridges” (Austrian Residence in Baku), “Caspian Corporealities” (Performance Week at YARAT), and “From Finite to Infinite” (Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the 20th–21st Centuries). Alongside his practical work, he is also engaged in the theoretical field of art and writes articles and essays, including: “Reflection of Thought in Contemporary Azerbaijani Painting” (Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan / “Culture” Journal) and “The Concept of Innovation in Contemporary Visual Art” (Scientific Papers of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts). His recent panel discussions and lectures include: A Speech on Creativity (Baku Business University), Salon Talk Series (Austrian Residence in Baku), “Art of Intelligence: You, Machine, or Co-creation?” (YARAT), and “Brief History and Structure of Modern Art of Azerbaijan” (Museum of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts).
- Animator / Visual artist
Frame-by-frame animator and visual artist Born: 26 February 2000 My practice navigates the tension and harmony between urban environments and nature. Through compelling animations and visual arts, I probe how city noise and natural silence intersect within us, highlighting the fragile balance between alienation and the search for inner harmony. Exhibitions 2025 | Eşq-i Nur, Group Exhibition 2025 | What’s Your Name?, Group Exhibition 2025 | Zen: Yaşayan Sükut, Group Exhibition 2025 | Free to Dream, Group Exhibition 2023 | Dərman arardım dərdimə, Group Exhibition Screenings 2023 | Carpet - Short film (Baku International Film Festival) – Baku, Azerbaijan 2025 | Crow is passing between us (7 Seconds Animation Festival) – Berlin, Germany
- Visual artist
Velizade Kamran (b. 2003) is a contemporary artist based in Baku whose practice navigates the space between poetic introspection and critical observation. His primary mediums are oil painting and ink on paper, through which he develops a visual language that reconciles personal emotion with intellectual inquiry. His work is particularly focused on capturing his melancholic and somber perception of the world around him, with a special emphasis on the atmosphere of his hometown, Baku—seeking to evoke a sense of quiet contemplation that reveals the city's beauty intertwined with a lingering sense of solitude. Currently, he is looking to expand his practice beyond traditional mediums, with a growing interest in exploring video art and installation. 2025 • From Finite to Infinite, Group Exhibition, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku.
- Artist and Designer
Maria Mozgovaya is an artist and designer working at the intersection of visual art, architecture, video art, and cinema. Her practice explores memory, personal history, space, and the ways in which a visual image can become a language in its own right.
She graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute (MARCHI) in 2022, specializing in Architectural Environment Design. Her architectural background shaped her focus on space, composition, materials, and the interaction between people and their environment.
In 2019, Maria presented the series Signs at an exhibition organized by the Union of Young Artists at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The series comprised 12 works created on corrugated cardboard. In each piece, a traffic sign served as the starting point for a visual association with a specific month of the year. An everyday element of the urban landscape was transformed into a personal symbol linked to the perception of time, seasonality, and memory.
Over time, her artistic practice expanded beyond architecture to incorporate graphic art, photography, video, animation, text, and spatial projects. Maria views art as a means of observing reality and reinterpreting it through the lenses of personal memory, the urban environment, literature, sound, and everyday life.
A key project in her practice is a book dedicated to her sister, Tanya. Maria handled the text, editing, structure, and visual design herself, transforming a personal archive and family history into an artistic statement on memory, loss, and intimacy.
In 2024, Maria founded SOYÚZ—a collaborative project with Riad Guseynov centered around an independent film archive, uniting their joint initiatives in cinema, visual art, music, and culture. SOYÚZ is evolving as a platform for film screenings, conversations, and other artistic initiatives where cinema serves as a starting point for exploring a broader cultural context.
In her work, Maria gravitates toward quiet, poetic expression. She is interested in small details, personal memories, and subtle states of being, translating them into visual imagery while leaving room for association and individual interpretation.
- Mural & Graffiti Artist / Multidisciplinary Visual Artist
Bakhtiyar Zaidzade is a multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of urban aesthetics, abstraction, and spatial art practices. His work transforms architectural environments into emotionally charged visual experiences through large-scale murals and immersive installations. Rooted in graffiti culture yet expanding beyond its traditional boundaries, his practice explores color dynamics, rhythm, light interaction, and psychological perception of space. He investigates how visual energy can alter atmosphere and create resonance between artwork and viewer. Alongside commissioned projects for private and commercial spaces, he develops independent conceptual works focused on spatial transformation and contemporary public art. YARAT School of Contemporary Art, Baku . Completed program in Contemporary Art /2025. Artistic Focus: Large-scale murals. Urban abstractioImmersive spatial installations. Neon and light-based compositions. Public space transformation. Selected Exhibitions: 2025. • From Finite to Infinite, Group Exhibition, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku. • EV: Embracing Variety, Group Exhibition, Masalli State Art Gallery, Masalli. 2022. • Cavan Urban Fest, Urban Art Festival, Baku
- Multidisciplinary Artist
Darya Safarova Roy is a Baku-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance, installation, video, painting, and collage. Originally trained in Architecture (2016–2020), her thesis project received recognition at the Moscow International Architecture. Competition in 2020. She later shifted her practice fully toward contemporary art, exploring themes of the body, transformation, and memory through spatial and performative language. Her films were presented at the Copenhagen Architecture Festival (2022, 2024), with one work selected as a lecture reference at the Royal Danish Academy. Darya has participated in Sevil Fest Film Festival (2024) and Malmö Queer Film Festival (2024). Her performance created for YARAT Performance Week (2025) was also presented in Berlin, and she took part in the group exhibitions From Finite to Infinite and Eşq-i Nur. She studied at YARAT Art School in 2024.
- Conceptual artist
I have been engaged in independent artistic practice since 2016. In my work, I explore inner human states and social tensions through minimal forms and a symbolic visual language. In 2022–2023, I completed the Contemporary Art School organized by YARAT Contemporary Art Space. This period marked an important stage in the formation of my conceptual thinking structure. In 2023, I participated in the group exhibition *Babil 2.0*. Currently, in my practice, I systematically develop the concepts of silence, knowledge, fear, and boundaries through fundamental visual elements such as the circle and the line.
- Multidisciplinary artist
Aliya Bayramova is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist based in Tokyo, Japan. She started her artistic career in 2021 and since then has participated in numerous exhibitions in Azerbaijan and Russia Aliya works with various mediums such as sculptors, installations, graphics, and video art. As the artist gets most of her inspiration from nature her works become a mix of organic and non organic - reused materials, mostly imitating living forms. The creative process itself is a living entity for the artist, so she allows her pieces to be messy and visually unfinished, as it also works for the theme of her artworks. In her artistic practice Aliya addresses the themes of memory and childhood along with exploring the ever-shifting states of mind and soul. She infuses her works with mystical forms and symbols that turn them into some kind of relics that encapsulate fragments of inner struggles. With her works, artist wants invite viewers to her own world, the one which shows how the life would look like if we lived in the inner side of our emotions EXHIBITION EXPERIENCE: «Repeat Until Awake» 2025, group exhibition, Fluxus space, Baku ,Azerbaijan «Once a Sea» 2025, group exhibition, Yarat Contemporary art space, Baku ,Azerbaijan «From Finite to Infinite» 2025, group exhibition, Yarat Contemporary art space, Baku ,Azerbaijan «Her art in action» 2024, group exhibition, by VarYox at Gazelli Art House, Baku Azerbaijan «Blazar» contemporary art fair, 2024, Moscow, Russia «The Last Offsite Show On Earth, at Plague Space And Everywhere», group exhibition, 2023-2024, Plague space,Krasnodar, Russia «Win WIn» contemporary art fair, 2022, Moscow, Russia «Closer» 2022, group exhibition, Moscow, Russia « New toxic » 2022, group exhibition k320 gallery, Moscow Russia «Zero mark» 2022, group exhibition, k320 gallery, Moscow, Russia
- Film director / Visual artist
Riyad Huseynov is a film director and visual artist from Baku. He graduated from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts (ASUCA) with a degree in Film Directing. His work explores human relationships, loneliness, emotional intimacy and distance, as well as contemporary cultural imagery.
Riyad is the founder of the “Soyuz” art collective, where he organizes film clubs and creates a space for youth cinema and creative exchange.
Filmography
“Veter” is an experimental short film about the coldness that emerges between two lovers who were once deeply connected. Through their encounter, the film explores how feelings can remain even after intimacy has faded. Riyad served as the director, screenwriter and editor. The film stars Pavel Maslyakov and Maria Mozgovaya.
“Red Baku” is an auteur short film about vampires in contemporary Baku. The story reimagines the vampire through the lens of local culture and the reality of the modern city, creating a contemporary interpretation of traditional cultural myths.
- Visual artist / Photographer / Costume designer
Fidan Abilova (b. 06.06.2001 Lankaran , Azerbaijan) is a visual artist, photographer, and costume designer working at the intersections of contemporary art. At the core of Abilova’s practice lies the complexity of the human soul and the unseen layers of emotion. She transforms emotional ruptures, inner turbulence, the body’s hidden memories, and psychological depth into visual form, embodying the immaterial realm of the soul through the language of photography and performance. Often merging photography and performance with installation-based structures, Abilova conducts conceptual investigations into instability, fragmented harmony, and the transformation of emotions. Her works on these themes have been presented in solo and group exhibitions. Education: • Bachelor of Graphic Design. • Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts (2018–2022). • Master of Art History. • Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts (2024–2026). • Yarat Contemporary Art School. • Artist (2024–2025). • InterAct Film Lab. • Production Design (2022). Exhibitions: • “Sinxronizasiya”, Gazelli Art House, Baku — Group exhibition, 2025-02.26 • “Flow State” Fly to Baku – Baku , Group exhibition, 2025 • “Eşq-i Nur”, Nasimi Festival, Shirvanshahs’ Palace Complex, Baku — Group exhibition, 2025. • “Free To Dream”, Her Art In Action, Union of Azerbaijan Artists — Group exhibition, 2025. • “Finite to Infinite”, Yarat, Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the XX–XXI Centuries — Group exhibition, 2025. • “Sanat Ne Yapar?”, Base Istanbul, Turkey, Istanbul — Group exhibition, 2024. • “Seeing ourselves and each other”, Her Art In Action, Gazelli Art House, Baku — Group . exhibition, 2024. • “La Musee”, Tardino6, Baku — Group exhibition, 2021. • “Frame View”, Lankaran , Tor-O biri otaq, — Solo exhibition, 2021.
- Designer
Renan Asadov is a designer based in Baku. His practice encompasses identity and branding, books and multi-page publications, digital media, and other forms of visual communication. He took his first professional steps in 1999. Since then, he has worked as a designer and art director for organizations operating in publishing, information technology, fintech, trade and public catering, entertainment, education, art, culture, and other sectors. In the field of visual communication, he delivers lectures and seminars on graphic design, text, type and typography, identity, and branding.
- Multidisciplinary artist
Maryam Yusifaliyeva (b. 2001, Baku, Azerbaijan) is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily with traditional media—oil on canvas. Her practice explores the relationship between the human and the nature, the living and the artificial, addressing the theme of lost authenticity in a world of imitation. Her work examines the human condition through the intersection of identity, the body, and social realities. She transforms familiar imagery into reflections on freedom, propaganda, and personal autonomy. Beyond painting, she employs photography, ready-made objects, and text as ways to capture the internal conflict between the romantic ideal and harsh reality.
- Multidisciplinary artist
Timur Zaripov (b.1997) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Tokyo, Japan. He started his creative career in 2021 as a musician and subsequently expanded into contemporary art. He is a graduate of the YARAT Contemporary Art School program (2024-2025). Timur works with various mediums such as music, video art, photography, digital art, 3D art, sculptures, and installation. As an artist he draws his inspiration from escapism, technology and the ways people communicate and interact with it. His video and installation works often engage with themes of memory, purification and ephemerality — images and sounds that surface briefly before dissolving, tracing the space between remembering and forgetting. In his visual practice Timur explores the relationship between digital processes and physical space, as well as the tension between the organic and the synthetic. Water recurs throughout his work as both subject and metaphor — a medium for cleansing, renewal and the passage of time. His installation at «Repeat Until Awake» worked with sand, coffee, engravings and candles to trace the fragile architecture of longing and self-doubt. The piece evolved into a spontaneous performance during the opening — damaged and repaired in real time, it mirrored cycles of emotional rupture and recovery before wax and entropy sealed its final form. In his musical practice he mixes various genres such as ambient, deconstructed club, trance and others. With his music he creates audial sculptures and abstract worlds in which he tries to escape to and invites his listeners to join him. EXHIBITION EXPERIENCE: «Axar Yaddas / Flowing Memory» 2025, group exhibition, Underground Bathhouse, Icherisheher, Baku, Azerbaijan «Repeat Until Awake» 2025, group exhibition, Fluxus space, Baku, Azerbaijan «Once a Sea» 2025, group exhibition, Yarat Contemporary art space, Baku, Azerbaijan «From Finite to Infinite» 2025, group exhibition, Yarat Contemporary art space, Baku, Azerbaijan
- SMM
- Researcher
Murad Mir-Zada is an Azerbaijani architect, and researcher specializing in heritage architecture and restoration. His academic and professional formation spans multiple international contexts, including Baku, Istanbul, and Milan, where he has developed interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of architectural conservation, and research. His work engages critically with the preservation, interpretation, and reuse of historic environments, with particular attention to their cultural and urban significance. Mir-Zada is currently a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano), Italy, where his research focuses on heritage conservation and restoration methodologies. He is the recipient of several local and international architectural competition awards, reflecting both his design excellence and his commitment to advancing contemporary approaches to historic preservation. In addition to his architectural and academic work, Murad has pursued art curatorial studies, successfully completing the Contemporary Art School at YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku. As a independent curator this experience has expanded his engagement with contemporary art and exhibition practices, informing his interdisciplinary perspective on heritage, and cultural production.
- Pixel artist / Production designer
Nigassandra (Nigar Safarova) is an Azerbaijani artist/florist, educated inProduction Design at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts. She is distinguished by her sensitive approach to color and composition. Working particularly in pixel art, she combines this aesthetic language with contemporary conceptual thinking, creating visual narratives within digital environments. The exhibitions she has participated in — “Splendor and Magnifience”(Salam Cinema Baku 2024), “Voices”(Zaman art gallery 2024), “Fly to Baku – Flow State”(Kichik Gala Art 2025) “Green Train” (Railway Museum 2025), and “Matrix” (Yarat contemporary art space 2026)— explore themes of space, movement, memory, and inner transformation. Her work balances poetic visual expression with conceptual depth, inviting viewers into an experience that moves between nostalgia and a vision of the future.
- Contemporary art performer / Choreography / Researcher
Lenay Seidali-zade is a contemporary performance artist, choreographer, researcher, and founder of independent dance schools. Her work explores the relationship between body, text, and collective experience. With an initial academic background in law, she brings analytical structure and conceptual precision into her artistic practice. She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Moscow in 2016 and has been working in the legal field for over 12 years. In 2022, she completed her second higher education degree as a choreographer. In 2024, she defended her Master’s thesis in History and Theory of Choreographic Art. Her research focuses on the philosophy of dance and dance as a therapeutic practice, particularly the influence of movement on human consciousness and psychological well-being. In 2022–2023, she completed the YARAT Contemporary Art School under the mentorship of Honored Artist Sabina Shixlinskaya. In her performative and choreographic works, the body becomes text and text transforms into movement. She approaches the audience not as passive observers, but as participants and carriers of meaning. In 2022, she presented the performance “Ephemera” at the exhibition AD INFINITUM. In 2023, at the exhibition “I Was Searching for the Salvation from Sorrow”, she presented “My Gentle Smile”, a two-channel looping video dedicated to her grandmother. In 2025, within the framework of the Nasimi Festival, at the exhibition “EŞQ-İ NUR”, she presented the performance “Stripping the Word”. She also has extensive experience in event management, is the founder of independent dance schools and educational initiatives, and is the author of the original “Dance Lab” project she developed many years ago. Her artistic goal is to transform art from observation into lived experience, positioning the body as a living carrier of meaning.
- Lens-based Visual Artist & Conceptual Photographer
born in 1990 on the Caspian coast of the South Caucasus, currently based in Berlin. He is a conceptual photographer working with experimental photographic processes and monotype-based image making. His practice combines documentary observation with overlaid personal vision, exploring perception, memory, and symbolic moments of Human experience. Through complex printing techniques and spatial presentation, Mathers creates immersive photographic masterpieces that invite viewers to reconsider the depth of reality and the relationship between science, spirituality, and contemporary life.
Driven by a desire to expand perception, Mathers approaches photography as a medium where memory, meditative immersion into the present moment, and imagination intersect. His large-scale works function as visual portals that challenge conventional notions of four dimensions and perception. His ongoing exploration of interconnection of light and imagination seeks to unravel the mysteries of human consciousness, propelling forward the metamodernist movement. The long-term project NØVA III explores the cosmic scale of imagination and its relationship to avant-garde of scientific knowledge in physics and astronomy. Other projects include Oilbow, translating the condition and voice of the Caspian Sea, Roots & Branches sharing senses and feelings of trees and Eye SpectOcularity, an ongoing exploration of soul through communication with the human gaze and sincerity.
Emin Mathers' contributions to the art world extend beyond individual projects, evidenced by his participation in notable exhibitions and acquisitions by various private and museum collections. Mathers’ work has been presented in international exhibitions including Oilbow on Watch to Hear at the KOLGA Tbilisi Photo Festival and NØVA III on ESQ-i NUR by AteshHub at NASIMI Festival. He has participated in NFT New York (2023–2025), reflecting his engagement with ethereal contexts for conceptual photography. Selected works from his project NØVA III are included in the LUNAR CODEX archival mission, a cultural archive scheduled to be delivered in mid 2026 to the south pole of the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program. He continues to captivate audiences worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary artscape.
- Photographer / Digital Artist
- Contemporary performance / Scientific artist-researcher / Photographer
Graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts in Baku, majoring in Textile Art. Graduated from the Royal School of Traditional Arts in London. Successfully completed the Contemporary Art School program at YARAT. Works: Life performance “All and Nothing” at the exhibition “Between the Sky and the Earth”, Heydar Aliyev Center. Performance “The Way” at the exhibition “Keçmiş nəsillərdən qalan izlər”, YARAT ARTIM. Life performance “The Black is the Colour of the Absolute” as part of the “Night at the Museum” project, YARAT.
- Contemporary Artist / Concept Developer
Diana Emchiyeva is a contemporary artist and visual thinker working between Baku and Europe. Her practice explores the intersection of personal and collective experience, examining identity, psychological perception, and the symbolic structures that shape contemporary society. In 2025, she participated in the exhibition “From Finite to Infinity” at YARAT Contemporary Art Space within the framework of Sabina Shikhlinskaya’s author school, presenting the installation Whatever Your Origin. The project addressed themes of belonging, external pressure, and inner agency through spatial metaphor and visual systems. As part of the exhibition program, she spoke on the artists’ panel about the historical formation of artificial intelligence, its operational principles, and its relationship to contemporary art practices. Her research approaches AI as a continuation of system-based thinking in art and an evolving model of authorship. Parallel to her artistic work, Diana is a designer at Bakı Abadlıq Xidməti, where she develops visual solutions for products originating from Karabakh. This experience allows her to engage deeply with Azerbaijani cultural codes and contribute to shaping contemporary design language. Born in Belarus and working within Azerbaijani cultural space, she approaches culture not as an abstraction but as lived experience — observed, studied, and translated into visual form. As the visual creator of Atəş Hub’s social media presence, she builds a coherent narrative identity for the platform, transforming its intellectual and cultural mission into accessible visual communication. Her work strengthens the Hub’s positioning while expanding its dialogue with a broader audience. Across all projects, her guiding principles remain consistent: integrity in expression, attentiveness to detail, and observation as a method. For Diana, art and design function as tools of reflection — precise instruments for understanding reality rather than decorative statements.
- Photographer
Photographer Fidan Nazim qizi (b. 1991, Azerbaijan) graduated from Baku State University in 2016 with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in "Librarianship and Information". She studied at Light and Composition University - Diploma in the Fundamentals of Photography and YARAT - School of Contemporary Art. After working in the library for years, she worked in the field of accounting, but in recent years she has focused all his attention on photography. She often finds answers to her questions about photography in underground libraries. Years later, she is making handmade photo books under the influence of the library. She makes the papers he finds mostly from underground libraries and unused sheets of paper from her friends. The main theme of her work is calmness, old age and feelings. She also works on projects covering various social issues. She prints and tones in his home lab using an alternative method called "Cyanotype" that has been in use since 1843. She currently works as an editor and photographer for the photography collective Fieldeye Notes. Exhibitions she participated in “CipFestival, (Greece,2020), “A Letter” (F37union, Bakı, 2021), Blank Wall Gallery (Greece, 2021), LMA (Berlin,Germany, 2021) “Elevate” (AFPA,USA,2021), Women in Photography (Gazelli Art House, Varyox, Bakı, 2022), Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival (2022), LMA (Porto, Portugal, 2022), “Bursa Photo Fest” (Turkey, 2022) LensCulture Black and White Photography Awards Gallery (2023), ARTIM, YARAT Müasir İncəsənət Məktəbinin tələbələrinin yekun buraxılış sərgisi (Bakı, 2023 ), “Force of Love” (Nargiz Magazine, Bakı 2023), Week of Art (Georgia, 2023) və s. Fotolarının istifadə edildiyi kitab və jurnallar - “Saudade” (Germany, Berlin,2020), BNW Awards, Light and Shadow (Tokio, Japan, 2021) “The Black and White Hue of the City” (Street Photo Magazine, 2021), “Women Warriours of Azerbaijan” (The Pictorial List, 2023), “Gelatin” Mag (Florida, Usa 2021), Shoot it with film (2023), “Pourtant” (France, Paris, 2022), Femlens Documentary Photography (2023), Baku Magazine (2024), Esq-İ Nur (2025) and etc.
- Art Manager
- Conceptual artist / Designer
Agamali Aliyev (b. 1996, Baku) is a multimedia artist. In 2014, he graduated from the Aircraft Technical Operation Engineering Faculty of the National Aviation Academy of Azerbaijan. He also completed the one-year program at YARAT Contemporary Art School. In his artistic practice, he approaches the themes he explores through a satirical and absurd lens. He primarily works with animation and video art. The artist has participated in a number of group exhibitions and festivals, including: “Between Earth and Sky” (Heydar Aliyev Center, 2023); “Babylon 2” (ARTIM Project Space, 2023); Qurama Art Festival (Baku Photography House, 2023); DOESN’T MAKE SENSE?! (with Fidan Nazim, 2024, ARTIM Art Space); and the V Booktrailer Festival (2nd place for “Penguins Fly, Mari”, 2020)..
- Digital Artist / Mixedmedia / Multimedia Conceptual Artist
Ramil Mammadli is a digital and conceptual artist from Baku, Azerbaijan. Before entering the visual art world, he was deeply involved in hip-hop culture as a dancer, where he developed a strong sense of rhythm, movement, and spatial awareness — elements that now define his artistic language. His works explore the intersection of technology, faith, memory, and the human soul through abstract cyber-futuristic compositions. He is the creator of the “Soul System” and “SF (Synaptic Faith)” collections, in which the circle symbolizes the soul navigating digital structures. Ramil has participated in international exhibitions across Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy, France, Belgium, China, and the United States. “METACODE” Group exhbition, YARAT Painting Museum (2022) “Colours of Joy“ / Beijing(Dany2023) “NFT.NYC“ (2023) (New York) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2023) “Link between worlds“ / Florence, Italy(2024) “NFT.NYC“ (2024)( New York) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Online gallery(2024) “NFT_CC“ / Naples, Italy (2024) “Meet Gallery“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “ATOM x Oncyber“ / Summer (2024) “ArtCrush“ - Builders DAO / Gent, Belgium (2024) “BuildersBox“ / Milan, Italy(2024) “Notte Bianca” Minervino Murge (BAT), Italy(2024) “Infinity Lab“ (2024) “NFT Paris” - Builders DAO (Paris, France) (2025) “Arnica Artland” Kutahya (2025) “Nesimi Festival /Esq-i-nur” Baku (2025) “Collective Delusion” Italy/Bologna (2025) “Sacri Sguardi“ / Museo Archeologico degli Ipogei / Trinitrapoli/ Italy (2026) “Digital Art Expo“ Megève 2026 (2026) “Ataturk Kultur Muzesi / Kibeleden Aba Sultana“ / Istanbul / Turkey (2026).
- Embassy
- Researcher
Murad Mir-Zada is an Azerbaijani architect, and researcher specializing in heritage architecture and restoration. His academic and professional formation spans multiple international contexts, including Baku, Istanbul, and Milan, where he has developed interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of architectural conservation, and research. His work engages critically with the preservation, interpretation, and reuse of historic environments, with particular attention to their cultural and urban significance. Mir-Zada is currently a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano), Italy, where his research focuses on heritage conservation and restoration methodologies. He is the recipient of several local and international architectural competition awards, reflecting both his design excellence and his commitment to advancing contemporary approaches to historic preservation. In addition to his architectural and academic work, Murad has pursued art curatorial studies, successfully completing the Contemporary Art School at YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku. As a independent curator this experience has expanded his engagement with contemporary art and exhibition practices, informing his interdisciplinary perspective on heritage, and cultural production.
- Steering Committee
- Contemporary performance / Scientific artist-researcher / Photographer
Graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts in Baku, majoring in Textile Art. Graduated from the Royal School of Traditional Arts in London. Successfully completed the Contemporary Art School program at YARAT. Works: Life performance “All and Nothing” at the exhibition “Between the Sky and the Earth”, Heydar Aliyev Center. Performance “The Way” at the exhibition “Keçmiş nəsillərdən qalan izlər”, YARAT ARTIM. Life performance “The Black is the Colour of the Absolute” as part of the “Night at the Museum” project, YARAT.
- Critic / Curator
Mansura Mammadaliyeva is a Baku-based independent curator, feminist art researcher, and art critic. She received her BA and MA degrees from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts and worked for over a decade at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, where she gained extensive museum and archival experience. Her curatorial and research practice is grounded in creating a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. Mammadaliyeva prioritizes the development and promotion of conceptual and digital art practices, reinterpreting cultural and historical heritage within contemporary theoretical frameworks. Her research focuses on women’s experience, trauma, body, and identity, as well as miniature art, Qajar visual culture, and the invisibility of women artists in art history. She critically examines patriarchal models of art historiography and works toward constructing alternative and inclusive narratives. In recent years, ecofeminism and the relationship between women and nature have become central to her theoretical and curatorial discourse. Mansura Mammadaliyeva also delivers lectures and public talks on various platforms, contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge on the theoretical and historical dimensions of contemporary art. Selected curatorial projects include: • Changing Identities — YARAT Contemporary Art Space, 2025. • Pain and Desire — Fluxus Space, 2025. • Eshqi Nur — Palace of the Shirvanshahs, 2025. • Flowing Memory — Underground Bath, 2025. • Synchrony — Gazelli Art House Baku, 2025. Her work contributes to the development of theoretically grounded, feminist, and ecofeminist critical curatorial discourse within contemporary Azerbaijani art.
- Designer
Renan Asadov is a designer based in Baku. His practice encompasses identity and branding, books and multi-page publications, digital media, and other forms of visual communication. He took his first professional steps in 1999. Since then, he has worked as a designer and art director for organizations operating in publishing, information technology, fintech, trade and public catering, entertainment, education, art, culture, and other sectors. In the field of visual communication, he delivers lectures and seminars on graphic design, text, type and typography, identity, and branding.
- Multidisciplinary visual artist / Cultural practitioner
His practice engages with video art, site-specific installation, performance, focusing on themes of visibility, vulnerability, and the human body within political and social contexts shaped by prolonged conflict and systemic pressure. He is a graduate of the Contemporary Art School in Baku and a member of AteshHub, an independent artist union for emerging practitioners in Azerbaijan. His work explores how bodies, environments, and power structures intersect, using artistic research as a tool for critical reflection and collective inquiry. “Eşqi-Nur” group exhibition by AteshHub in ShirvanShah Palace, Old Town/ artist/ 2025 “Words said about water to water” solo performance in YARAT Contemporary Art Space/ performer/ 2025 “From Finite to Infinite” final exhibition of the YARAT Contemporary Art School in Museum of Azerbaijani Painting of the XX-XXI Centuries/ artist/ 2025 “Another kind of Climate” group exhibition organized by Goethe Institute in Baku/ artist/ 2024 “Human energy” project cooperate with Cec ArtsLink and Jessica Segall/ performer/ 2023 "BEYOND COMFORT TO RADICAL INTIMACY" intensive training with Nazmiye Oral and Adelheid Roosen/ Salaam Cinema Baku/ performer/ 2023
- Art Manager
Agnessa Tariverdiyeva is an Art Manager and Project Coordinator based in Baku. Her practice focuses on the production and coordination of contemporary art exhibitions across museum, gallery, and heritage contexts. Her work involves close collaboration with artists and curators, supporting the realization of exhibitions from concept to installation, and facilitating projects that engage with cultural memory, site-specificity, and contemporary artistic practice. Projects Digital Art EXPO Megève, France 2026 Project coordination and representation of Azerbaijani digital artists within an international exhibition and NFT program Synchrony Gazelli Art House Baku 2025–2026 Project Coordinator for an exhibition exploring ecofeminism and transcorporeality in contemporary art Var Yox — Green Train Azerbaijan Railway Museum 2025–2026 Project Coordinator for the multimedia installation “Route: Historical Past, Station: Pirshagi” EŞQ-İ NUR Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Nasimi Festival 2025 Art Manager for an exhibition presented at a UNESCO World Heritage site, engaging contemporary art with the philosophical legacy of Nasimi Flowing Memory Fly to Baku Art Festival Underground Bathhouse, Icherisheher 2025 Art Manager for a site-specific exhibition examining memory, ritual, and cultural continuity Time of Nature — International Cultural Ecofeminism Festival Baku 2025 Art Manager coordinating exhibitions, public programs, and international artist participation across multiple cultural venues From Finite to Infinite YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku 2025 Exhibition project developed and presented within the YARAT Contemporary Art School program, supporting the realization of a contemporary art exhibition from concept to public presentation
- Lens-based Visual Artist & Conceptual Photographer
born in 1990 on the Caspian coast of the South Caucasus, currently based in Berlin. He is a conceptual photographer working with experimental photographic processes and monotype-based image making. His practice combines documentary observation with overlaid personal vision, exploring perception, memory, and symbolic moments of Human experience. Through complex printing techniques and spatial presentation, Mathers creates immersive photographic masterpieces that invite viewers to reconsider the depth of reality and the relationship between science, spirituality, and contemporary life.
Driven by a desire to expand perception, Mathers approaches photography as a medium where memory, meditative immersion into the present moment, and imagination intersect. His large-scale works function as visual portals that challenge conventional notions of four dimensions and perception. His ongoing exploration of interconnection of light and imagination seeks to unravel the mysteries of human consciousness, propelling forward the metamodernist movement. The long-term project NØVA III explores the cosmic scale of imagination and its relationship to avant-garde of scientific knowledge in physics and astronomy. Other projects include Oilbow, translating the condition and voice of the Caspian Sea, Roots & Branches sharing senses and feelings of trees and Eye SpectOcularity, an ongoing exploration of soul through communication with the human gaze and sincerity.
Emin Mathers' contributions to the art world extend beyond individual projects, evidenced by his participation in notable exhibitions and acquisitions by various private and museum collections. Mathers’ work has been presented in international exhibitions including Oilbow on Watch to Hear at the KOLGA Tbilisi Photo Festival and NØVA III on ESQ-i NUR by AteshHub at NASIMI Festival. He has participated in NFT New York (2023–2025), reflecting his engagement with ethereal contexts for conceptual photography. Selected works from his project NØVA III are included in the LUNAR CODEX archival mission, a cultural archive scheduled to be delivered in mid 2026 to the south pole of the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program. He continues to captivate audiences worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary artscape.
- Researcher
Murad Mir-Zada is an Azerbaijani architect, and researcher specializing in heritage architecture and restoration. His academic and professional formation spans multiple international contexts, including Baku, Istanbul, and Milan, where he has developed interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of architectural conservation, and research. His work engages critically with the preservation, interpretation, and reuse of historic environments, with particular attention to their cultural and urban significance. Mir-Zada is currently a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano), Italy, where his research focuses on heritage conservation and restoration methodologies. He is the recipient of several local and international architectural competition awards, reflecting both his design excellence and his commitment to advancing contemporary approaches to historic preservation. In addition to his architectural and academic work, Murad has pursued art curatorial studies, successfully completing the Contemporary Art School at YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku. As a independent curator this experience has expanded his engagement with contemporary art and exhibition practices, informing his interdisciplinary perspective on heritage, and cultural production.
