The "Big Five" Exhibition Will Take Place.
From May 7 to 9, the 5th “Maiden Tower” International Art Festival will be held. The purpose of organizing the 5th “Maiden Tower” International Art Festival is to promote the Maiden Tower, the oldest, most mysterious, and universally valuable monument of Azerbaijan, on a global scale. Since its inception in 2010, the “Maiden Tower” International Art Festival has brought together renowned artists from various countries of the world, who have decorated models of the Maiden Tower in their national styles, creating works that reflect the synthesis and mutual exchange of different cultures and traditions.
In addition to promoting the Maiden Tower, the festival organizers have decided to draw public attention to environmental protection issues. Since 2012, a parallel event has been held involving the painting of sculptures of the gazelle, one of the Caucasus fauna species facing the threat of extinction. The main goal of this event is to raise awareness about the key species of the Caucasus fauna that are endangered. The IDEA (International Dialogue for Environmental Action) Public Union, founded and led by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, has identified the brown bear, imperial eagle, gray wolf, gazelle, and Caucasian leopard (“The Big Five of the Caucasus”) as species of the Caucasus that are at risk of extinction.
At the festival, the gazelle has been chosen as the main symbol representing this “Big Five.” Each artist will demonstrate their unique painting style and decorative skills on the completed sculptures. Today, gazelles, the rarest and fastest-running species in the Caucasus, can only be found in the Bandovan and Goychay regions of Azerbaijan and in the Shirvan State Reserve.
The conceptual and imaginative boundaries of the festival expand each year through the addition of new thematic components. This year, within the framework of the festival in Baku, it is planned to present 3D paintings, one of the most popular forms of street art worldwide.
