Heydar Aliyev Foundation organizes evening of Azerbaijani culture in Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf, November 7, AzerTAc An evening of Azerbaijani culture has been held in Dusseldorf with the organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Germany. Opening the event, Ambassador Parviz Shahbazov noted that the concert was one of the series of events held under the initiative of Azerbaijan`s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva. The Ambassador spoke of Azerbaijan`s rich music culture and development of various music genres, and stressed Garabagh - the music cradle of Azerbaijan - was occupied by Armenia. Conveying Azerbaijan`s general development by concrete facts, the diplomat emphasized that Azerbaijan, for its geographical location, has played a role of a bridge between the West and East, linking at the same time the Western and Eastern cultures. The host of the event provided information about the historical ties between Azerbaijan and Germany, the German heritage existing in Azerbaijan, as well as projects implemented by Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in Azerbaijan and abroad towards preserving cultural heritage, promotion of cultural relations and improving conditions for the youth`s to receive better education. Noting that jazz music in Azerbaijan started to develop back in the 30s of the last century, the host underscored Azerbaijan has a number of strong world-class jazzmen, the Baku Jazz Festival was one of the leading music festivals in this genre, and that synthesis of jazz with mugham was unique. The grandiose music program performed by Azerbaijani jazzman Elchin Shirinov and jazzmen from Great Britain Dave Hamblet and Sam Laserson was welcomed by the audience with applauses. The synthesis of Azerbaijani songs - Shirzad Fataliyev performing in balaban and Mirjavad Gafarov in oud – together with these jazzmen`s performance made the concert more colorful. The attendees were distributed a new publication of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation – the book “German Traces in Azerbaijan” written by Eva-Maria Auch, a professor, the head of the department “History of Azerbaijan” at the Humboldt University in Berlin. At the same time, the photo-exhibition “German Traces in Azerbaijan” and an exposition consisting of works by winners of an art competition called “Germany Through an Artist`s Eyes” were demonstrated. The event was attended by deputies of the North Rhine-Westphalia Federal Land, representatives of Germany`s public and political and cultural circles, the diplomatic corps accredited in the country and mass media.