Baku Steel Art 2025 and Last Wave exhibitions on display in Azerbaijan's capital PHOTO

As part of the “Fly to Baku. Art Weekend” festival, enriching the capital's cultural life, the exhibitions “Baku Steel Art 2025” and “The Last Wave” have opened at the Stone Chronicle Museum.

The cultural event has been initiated by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Leyla Aliyeva, Caliber.Az reports, citing Azertag.

The event is an international art and culture festival that transforms Baku into a living canvas of creativity, heritage, and ecological reflection. Rooted in the metaphor of water and inspired by the Caspian Sea, the festival interweaves memory with imagination - connecting tradition and modernity, nature and innovation, and art with the future.

According to the organizers, the Baku Steel Art 2025 exhibition represents a meeting point between steel and art — a creative bridge capable of inspiring future generations. The featured works combine the strength of technology with the subtlety of artistic expression. The artists have breathed new life into steel, transforming it into unique and original works of art. Sculptures created in diverse artistic styles merge the aesthetic values of steel and fine art, opening new forms of contemporary artistic expression.

Zamik Rzayev, one of the artists presenting his work, "Anchor", in the exhibition spoke to AZERTAG about the inspiration that drove him: “I was deeply affected by the drying up of the Caspian Sea. As you can see, the anchor lies to the side, and a mirror is placed at the bottom. This was done so that everyone could feel their personal connection to the beauty of ecology. Our goal is to show the importance of protecting nature and coexisting harmoniously with art. It took me 10 days of hard work to create this piece.”

Romanian sculptor Ciprian Hopirtean, the creator of “Earth and Fire”, noted that his work reflects the story of war. He emphasized that the project was inspired by his two years of experience helping restore the Juma Mosque in the liberated city of Aghdam.

“The walls of the mosque are covered with bullet marks and soot. There I witnessed firsthand what war is capable of,” he stated.

The exhibition “The Last Wave” features a kinetic installation by renowned sculptor and installation artist Elvin Nabizade, inviting viewers into two parallel universes — between sound and movement.

“The Last Wave” is a kinetic structure composed of two monumental frame-drums suspended in separate rooms. The hanging instruments move in slow, rhythmic motions — gentle yet continuous, like the breathing of the sea.

The installation unfolds across two atmospheric spaces. The first hall, filled with cool blue and white light, evokes a sense of calm and distance — frozen winter silence lingers in the air, carrying the tranquil rhythm of nature. The sound of waves is heard like a distant echo. In the second hall, a golden, warm glow fills the space — like the shimmer of summer sunlight on rippling water. The mechanical rhythm becomes more pronounced, awakening the sea and filling the room with the energy of warmth.

Another part of the broader "Fly to Baku. Art Weekend festival" related to those exhibitions is the 2nd International Symposium Baku Steel Art, with the sculptures created in the course of it brought to the Baku Boulevard as an open-air exhibition. 

The symposium forms a vital component of a multidisciplinary cultural programme running from October 31 to November 2, featuring more than forty exhibitions, performances, and educational events across Baku’s most iconic cultural venues.

The initiative unites 14 artists from eight countries - Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Türkiye, Romania, Germany, Serbia, Iran, and Uzbekistan in a shared creative dialogue. 

By Nazrin Sadigova