Born to Love

Are we living a real-life, or is our world just a well-crafted simulation, and we are just lines in a computer code, zeros, and ones? Someone more intelligent than us, more advanced and technologically superior to our civilisation, has created this whole world, the universe - by accident, as an experiment, or perhaps for fun.

For the 2022 Venice Biennale, the Azerbaijan Pavilion is proud to present Born to Love from April 23 to November 27, 2022, that marks Azerbaijan’s fifth participation in the International Venice Biennale, realized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Curator Emin Mammadov introduces the fascinating exhibition of works by seven Azerbaijani contemporary female artists that draws on the phenomenon of the Infinite Consciousness of the Universe.

By her pictures of the life around, every object or moment of which not only fixed by camera, but full of hidden meaning Agdes Baghirzade tries to bring us closer to the divine perfection. The other side of me encapsulates vignettes from our everyday transitory experience.

Agdes Baghirzade, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1975, lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The sculpture figure Saltation by Fidan Akhundova reflects the different stages of the woman life. We don’t know what awaits the woman who takes that step, the leap into the unknown. The journey ahead is full of doubts and difficulties, but it is a more conscious and freer one.

Fidan Akhundova, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1989, lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Fidan Kim (Novruzova) in her Totem project reflects the evolution of mankind, the relationship of man with animals and the basic principle of life, which is and that is survival of the fittest. Man’s struggle with himself as well as with the environment. And that at the moment protecting the environment, animals in particular, is a top priority for all of us.

Fidan Kim (Novruzova), born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1997, lives and works in San-Francisco.

The art of Infinity with her All is Sacred immerses us into ocean, where the pearls of perception and wisdom can be ours to hold and reclaim. Her project is driven from a need to be one with the essence of nature and the world in which we live.

Infinity, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1984, lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Ramina Saadatkhan while bringing together various aesthetics and styles combines collage pop-art techniques with abstract expressionism elements reveals the Energy of Chaos.

Ramina Saadatkhan, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1977, lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Sabiha Khankishiyeva with her Dragon project remind us that everything around us, from our environment to the smallest cells in our body, is made up of many repeating elements. In science, this is called fractal geometry. And therefore, we cannot deny the connection between our subconsciousness, consciousness and this world. Even the human eye loves to find this symmetry in which all harmony is manifested.

Sabiha Khankishiyeva, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1990, lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In installation Born to Love by Zhuk the water element is used as the environment that is the basis of the birth of mankind, starting with the womb of the mother.

Zhuk, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1992, lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Man is a being who is constantly searching for himself and who at every moment of his existence tests and re-examines the conditions of his own existence. In this critical attitude toward one’s own life lies its real value. The only thing that matters to man is the inner installation of the soul, the inner principle, the privilege of man and his first duty, understood in a broad sense, which has not only a moral but also a universal metaphysical basis. Man knows the world through the senses: sight, touch, hearing… But can we be sure of what we feel? Can we be sure that a dream is really a dream, and that upon awakening we will find the “real” reality and not another dream?

Curator: Emin Mammadov, Artistic Advisor of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, lives in Baku.

In 2012 he was appointed Honored Worker of Art of the Azerbaijan Republic. Mammadov has gained international recognition quickly and has curated numerous exhibitions in Azerbaijan and Europe. Mammadov curated Virtual Reality Azerbaijan Pavilion in 2019, UNDER ONE SUN. The Art of Living Together Azerbaijan Pavilion in 2017, and also curated the exhibitions Beyond the Line and Vita Vitale that were shown at the Azerbaijani Pavilion of the 2015 Venice Biennale. Within 2016–2018 he was curating the international travelling exhibition Live Life in London, Paris, Berlin, Tbilisi and Moscow.