Black January

These days of the middle of January carry a lot of sad memories for Azerbaijan. Twenty years ago when the movement for independence from the Soviet Union was gaining momentum, a wave of nationalistic pogroms erupted in the country. In a city once known for its multinational culture people turned on each other “man against man, neighbor against neighbor.” Some chose to become hunters, some, not given a choice, became hunted. People were killed and those who weren’t fled the city. On the night from the 19th to 20th of January 1990 Soviet troops entered Baku and again innocent people were killed. Those days went down in the history of Azerbaijan as Black January and the 20th of January is now known as Mourning Day, remembrance of those who lost their lives. Red carnations already start to appear in the Alley of Martyrs where the fallen were laid to rest.

Twenty years have passed but the memories of those days are still throbbing. One woman told me how she and her small kids huddled in the bathroom close to the floor because so many people were killed by stray bullets. “I still remember the crack running in the center of my tiles,” she said. The other told of the painful realization that people whom you knew could so easily turn against you. “We were neighbors, you know,” she kept repeating, even after 20 years shaking her head in disbelief.

Whenever I listen to people talk about those days – I inevitably notice the faraway look of souls lost in the past and when after a pause they return to conversation, they say, “Let’s not talk about it, it was so long ago” and then there is silence.




Silence of crystal night
Pierced by machine gun fire:

Rain of broken glass, tramping of running feet,
Cries of people and later stunned silence.

Those alien sounds
Smashed windows of hopes and dreams –
Pieces of broken glass mirrored the empty sky.

An Unexpected Visitor

Look whom we found in our backyard upon arrival home! He is still indecisive whether he would leave or stay. For now he is camping on our lawn.


Below is the permanent resident of our yard, Attila.

Results

Parenting is such a peculiar occupation - you do it constantly even if you don't intend to. It is annoying at times because often the kids picked up something that you would not want them to learn - bad habits, for example. Both of my boys bite their lips and there is no way to deny that this "gift" came from me. Once in a while though they surprise me by showing that my nagging is taking its hold.

From my childhood I was taught that it is rude to refer to a third person in his/her presence using a pronoun (she/he), you should always use his/her name. As in, "Aleksandra asked you to do something" instead of "She asked you to do something." when Aleksandra is standing right there. I have been trying to pass it on my kids and those seemingly fruitless attempts felt exasperating.

Today I heard them both catching and correcting themselves on exactly this point. While having breakfast and chatting about dreams the younger one said "Remember that weird dream, sh...(quick glance in my direction) mom told us about?" and later in the day the older one corrected himself while speaking with his friends.

I hope that someday they will learn to keep their elbows off the table as well.

Things We Love

I am feeling blue. Not because of the weather - it is sunny and nice; not because of a pesky headache - it finally left me, not because of abundance of work - it is a bit of a lull there at the start of the week, but because on Saturday I happened to conduct a tour in the Art Museum and it reminded me how immensely I miss doing what I am good at. Every our move I reinvent myself - learn new ropes, teach myself yet another skill - each time feeling like a student who has to prove herself. But there in the museum, leading the tour, I was doing what I love and know well. Teaching essentially. I let myself to forget how much I love those things. I like the thrill of discovery which generates the desire to share, I like spending hours talking with people in search of information, I like sifting through books or websites unearthing forgotten facts, I like the moment when all the separate bits of information come together into a whole, the moment when a tour/lecture/lesson takes its shape and there is a vision of how it should be going, and I like effortless connection between me and audience that transfers a random group of people into participants, co-creators.

Through the years of moving from country to country I have been taking my friends and family to various museums, galleries,city walks but I haven't done it with a crowd for way too long. It felt exactly how I remembered it - fun,thrilling,exuberant and utterly natural, in a way it was like returning home.

It felt great, but then the afterthought kept coming back, "I really love it, what a shame that I do it so rarely."

It said that the key to happiness is to learn what you like and incorporate it in your life. So, what makes you shine?

Still Images

Days fly by in a mad rush – loosing their contours in the process. Where one ends and the other starts, I cannot tell. Things which have happened in the morning feel like several days ago – time assumes fractured quality – mosaic of seconds and hours without complete pattern. The only certainty is still images captured by camera.

Aluminium or the 4th Baku Biennale

For seven days (December 11 - December 18) the art world of Baku had a very busy schedule. More than 50 artists from different countries came here to show their work and openings of new exhibitions were happening every two to three hours. Amazingly, even the local Zoo was involved and had an installation unveiling on Sunday, December 13. Of course, when we came there on Friday 18 there wasn't any sign of it, but it was nice to know that animals had had some exposure to modern art.

Jokes aside there were very interesing works there. Among those who work with photo images two artists impressed me the most: Soody Sharifi, Iranian born Houston based photographer, and Thomas Kauneckas from Lithuania, who works a lot with fashion and advertising industry there.

Soody Sharifi brought just two photographs to Baku but they represented one of the main theme of her art – a dialogue between traditional and modern culture, their interactions on daily basis and, using her own words, " challenging Muslim expectations of propriety."

Soody Sharifi "Fatima"

Soody Sharifi "Grandma"

Tomas Kauneckas presented his version of Apocalispsis in attempt to attract viewers attention to importance of conserving energy and water. The title of the series "2039" speaks of the near future when people face the consequences of their careless attitude towards nature.

Tomas Kauneckas "2039"

Tomas Kauneckas "2039"

Susan Reese Horvitz, an American artist, who works with different media brought a variety of work to this event. Most unusual were her book like creations that will be donated to the Minuature Books Museum of Baku.

Christmas Cookies

Baking and decoration of Christmas cookies happened in our house house not long ago.

The first batch was festive and traditional.

Then creative juices started to flow and we got this, titled "Murder by Knife" and inspired by The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

And this, titled "In the bathroom."

"Why such a subject?" the young artist was asked. "It is amusing to shock people," he answered.

It seems like my sons discovered the principle of many artists - épater le bourgeois.

In the Opera.

It is always interesting to go to the Opera and Ballet Theatre – the building itself, small unexpected additions to the classic, people watching, chatting with people – it is an experience. Today they performed “Traviata”. It was quite nice overall and the guest singer from Ukraine did have a very strong voice, borderline ultrasonic at times, but who impressed me the most was Azerbaijanian mezzo soprano, Sabina Asadova. Her voice is all depth and velvet, and she certainly has the presence on stage, which was a bit unfortunate for the leading lady. It will be interesting to see Ms. Asadova in some other production where she will have a bigger part.

Sitting and looking around the theatre made me want to tell you about this building. I like the story of its construction because it started not with a well thought out plan but with hurt feelings and desire of revenge.

Somewhere around 1910 one of the famous folk singers of Baku purchased a beautiful house for himself and decided to throw a housewarming party to celebrate this occasion. And it was the occasion to celebrate because this building (it houses SOCAR headquarters nowadays) considered to be one of the most beautiful ones in Baku at that time. Guests came from near and far, champagne was flowing, the music was playing, and laughter echoed in the night. But, two Bakuvian millionaires Daniel Mailov and his brother didn’t receive the invitation. Affronted by such an insult they brooded over revenge. Concluding that a duel wasn’t an option and being the businessmen as they were, they decided to build something just to outdo the offender. But what should they built?

Meanwhile a famous opera singer Antonina Nezhdanova came to visit Baku. She gave several concerts at various clubs, all with a great success. After finishing her tour she was invited to return to Baku but swiftly declined naming as a reason the lack of an opera house in the city. Daniel Mailov who was fond of Nezhadnaova’s wonderful soprano, immediately realized what he was meant to build. The Opera Theater, what else? Being a decisive man, he immediately invited the singer to return to the City of Wind in a year for the opening of the Opera House.

To construct a building in less than a year was quite a daring project especially since it had to confirm with many safety regulations. (A wise practice that should be reenstated here.) One of the millionaires of Baku, Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who happened not long before these events to sponsor the construction of another theatre (present day Musical Comedy Theatre) doubted that time allotted to the project would be enough. Knowing men’s competitive nature it should not come as a surprise that Taghiyev and Mailov brothers made a bet – if Mailovs didn’t build the theatre on time, it would be given to Taghiyev as a gift; if the theatre was to be finished by 1911, the latter would have to cover all the building expenses. The Opera Theatre was finished in less than 10 months.

The theatre was opened in February of 1911 and Nezhdanova performed at the opening ceremony. Guests came from near and far, champagne was flowing, the music was playing, and laughter echoed in the night; all Bakuvian elite was present except ....– can you guess who didn’t receive the invitation?

And here, ladies and gents, some views of the theatre.

Outside

And Inside

Gurban Bayrami (“Eid-al-Adha”, Festival of Sacrifice)

Gurban Bayrami (“Eid-al-Adha”, Festival of Sacrifice) is celebrated in Azerbaijan this weekend. Eid-al-Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice is celebrated in commemoration of the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismayil on Mina Mountain as an act of his love and obedience to Allah. As Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, the knife didn’t cut and Allah instead provided a lamb as the sacrifice. This is why today all over the world Muslims sacrifice an animal (usually a goat or a sheep), as a reminder of Ibrahim’s obedience to God. The festivities begin 70 days after the end of Holy Ramadan and last for three days. The meat of the sacrificed animals is divided into three shares, one share for the poor, one share for relatives and neighbors, and the last to keep for oneself. In the evening people usually get together for a festive meal with family, friends and neighbors. It is customary then to remember all deceased relatives and friends. Since it is a deeply religious holiday, there is a special Holiday Namaz in mosques on that day.


A few days before the holiday we started to notice small herds of sheep along the highway and on the street that leads to a butcher shop. Some of these sheep were marked with red paint or had red ribbons tied around their horns. I was told that our neighborhood butcher shop will be very busy these days and I am torn between the desire of taking photos and inability to witness slaughter of the animals.
Speaking with various people I gathered that there are very specific rules on how to sacrifice an animal and how to divide the meat. A knife for sacrificing must be sanctified by a mullah; thean animal is supposed to be positioned between East and West, the points of the sun rising and setting; the blood of the animals is used for marking children’s forehead with a small red dot as a reminder of Ismayil.

Since not everyone can afford to buy a whole sheep, people often buy it together. The meat is divided in such a way that each person receives every part of the sacrificed animal - – i.e. if there are 10 people who share a sheep – each of them has to receive a part of a heart, liver, etc . It is sinful to sell meat of sacrificial animals; it has to be shared, and it is forbidden to drink alcohol during the feast of Eid al-Adha.

With all its layers it is a fascinating holiday – it’s essence is deeply religious; it satisfies physical hunger with a traditional feast; it provides a sensory overload with visuals of sheep being slaughtered; and it is deeply humane – it encourages people to share their riches with the less fortunate. It has the same spirit with Thanksgiving – giving something to others, be it in thanks or in food.

Along the highway

Neighborhood Butcher Shop

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year – our new house in a new country feels like home; the kids and us develop new friends and are blessed with the old ones; everybody in our close and far away family are in good health. But what I would like to focus on today are small and fleeting details that make life special – silence of the house in the early hours of the morning, unexpected “I love you, mom” from my boys, outburst of silly jokes coming from my usually serious husband, radiant splash of sun rays stretched across the sky, amazing discoveries that await me at every corner as long as I keep my eyes open.


Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Yours,
VC