Society 363 / 2013

Aserbaidschan
Interview
Azerbaijani Culture in the
Heart of the Europe
Right across the street of the Museum of Cultural History, Azerbaijan
opened the doors of its new Azerbaijani Cultural Center
in Vienna. SOCIETY met director Leyla Gasimova and talked
to her about art, music and the commonalities of Austria and
Azerbaijan.
Interview: Gertrud Tauchhammer
Azerbaijan and Austria
have a long-standing
economic and cultural
relationship. What do
you think is the next
step in this connection?
Austria and Azerbaijan have indeed
established great bilateral relations in numerous
areas. As president of the Republic
of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev remarked during
his recent state visit to Austria in May,
2013: “Austria and Azerbaijan are true
friends and partners. We have just signed
a political declaration called ‘The Declaration
of Friendship and Partnership’”. The
opening of the Azerbaijani Cultural Centre,
which is only our country’s second
Cultural Centre to be opened in Europe,
will only intensify and strengthen these
relations. With a prime location in the
heart of Vienna, our cultural centre will
host art exhibitions, concerts, language
courses, lectures, touristic presentations
and many other cultural events. We have
already started working on some projects.
As the director of this new cultural
institution can you tell us about your
next projects? Can you name a few artists
from Azerbaijan that you are going
to present to the Austrian people?
For instance, on the 31st of May a classical
concert, featuring musicians from
Austria and Azerbaijan was held at the
Vienna Konzerthaus. On June 17th there
was a presentation of the collection of stories
by the well-known Azerbaijani author
Anar, which have been translated into the
German language and published in Austria.
The annual celebration of Azerbaijani
national music in Vienna has become a
tradition. On this occasion we are planning
to organize a concert on September
18th, which is the birthday of our famous
composer, Uzeyir Hajibeyli. I would like to
mention that this year is the 100th anniversary
of the operetta “Arshin mal alan”,
which has been performed in 2006 in Vienna,
with great success. It would be great to
present this operetta to the Viennese audience.
Another big event has been planned
for autumn 2014: the exhibition of unique
handmade dolls by Elmira Abbasli.
By the way, we have also already
launched our homepage www.azculture.
at. At present we are working on its content.
Visitors will be able to find useful
information there about our centre’s
upcoming events as well as about Azerbaijan.
Moreover, you can find information
concerning the Azerbaijani language
Fotos: SOCIETY/Preiss
84 | SocietY 1 _2013