On May 9th a closing ceremony of the 5th International Art Festival “Maiden Tower” was held in Icherisheher, Baku.
Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva attended the event.
Initiated and supported by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the festival was co-organized by IDEA, the Museum of Modern Art and Maiden Tower Art Gallery, and the State Department of the Historical and Architectural Reserve of Icherisheher under the Cabinet of Ministers.
The festival aims to popularize on a global scale the most ancient, mysterious and universally valued monument of Azerbaijan – the Maiden Tower.
Launched in 2010, the International Art Festival “Maiden Tower” has been successfully held in the capital of Azerbaijan for three consecutive years and once in Cannes, France.
Over 70 renowned artists from various countries have already participated in the previous four festivals. By decorating models of the Maiden Tower in their own national styles, artists created works reflecting the synthesis and mutual exchange of different cultures and traditions. In 2012, along with main objective – promotion of the Maiden Tower – the organizers decided to draw public attention to the issue of environmental protection.
They launched a parallel event that involves painting sculptures of the gazelle – one of the Caucasian endangered species. The action aims to raise awareness of the endangered existence of the “Caucasian Big Five” – five animals that are under the threat of extinction – brown bear, imperial eagle, grey wolf, gazelle and Caucasian leopard. Among these animals, the gazelle was chosen as the main symbol of the festival.
This year as parallel action within the festival it is planned to hold 3D street art painting in the center of the Maiden Tower square. Within 3-dimencial optical illusion from certain perspective it would be possible to find oneself on the top of the Maiden Tower and have a breathtaking, realistic and beautiful view of the Old City.