Oil money there is plenty and fortunately it has also been invested in art. Baku’s Museums are stunning, but Heydar Aliyev Center beats everything I have seen museumwise. The gigantic white building with it curvy surface and super high glass front and no straight line creates an impression of a flowing structure. Everything displayed inside is estetic and just beautiful. Another highlight for us was the Museum of Modern Arts and the Carpet Museum
Heydar Aliyev Center
Heydar Aliyes Center
My personal highlight in Baku was this incredible museum, a must-see cultural bonanza. Designed by the deceased Iraqi-British woman Zaha Hadid and named after the former president of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003, the complex was completed in 2012. In 2014 the stunning structure, which doesn’t have a single straight line, won the London Design Museum’s prestigious Design of the Year Award. It is said that an aerial view reveals the building to be Heydar Aliyev’s signature.
Portrait of former President Aliyev
I wandered around the many different exhibitions, including a remarkable puppet collection, Islamic calligraphy, paintings, sculptures, exquites robes etc. Among the permanent collections, there’s a museum exploring the life and legacy of the national leader Heydar Aliyev and even a very unique collection of classic cars.
Heydar Aliyev Center
Mini Azerbaijan – the country’s key landmarks, on the tablet pick a language of your choice
Baku’s Heydar Aliyev Center coffee shop
Heydar Aliyev Center
Heydar Aliyev Center
Heydar Aliyev Center
Museum of Modern Art by Aliyeva
to get there was a bit adventurous, since we wanted to use public transport. We were familiar with the metro, but this required a our first trip on Baku’s extensive bus system. Since the outside of the museum is so unspectacular we could not see it from the distance. When we got off the bus, the widest road I ever crossed separated us from the museum. The over 800 paintings by notable Azerbaijani painters and sculptors, particularly avant garde art are the second half of the twentieth century. Like the Heydar Alijev Center the museum is connected to the President. It was built at the initiative of the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva and opened on 20 March 2009.
Museum of Modern Art open in 2009
Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
Carpet Museum
The building itself is an attraction, an iconic piece of architecture shaped like a rolled carpet. I know this visit required expertise, by simply wandering around I would not learn anything about this Azerbaijani carpets. A lovely young lady took me around explained the different technicus, styles and regional differentes.
The two first floors display the country’s most beautiful carpets representative of their respective regions. Lastly there is an amazing collection of all the interesting things you can do with a carpet.
My guide through the Carpet Museum
Carpet Museum
Carpet Museum
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