On the evening of 26 May 2012 the lights of the Baku Crystal Hall reached millions of television screens. Twenty years earlier this country had been defending its independence amid war, blockade and a deep social crisis; now it was hosting the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. The turn did not come overnight: in the years of independence Azerbaijan rebuilt its education and science, made its folk heritage known to the world and hosted large international competitions. This lesson continues «Culture in the 1940s–1980s»; read the political and economic background in «New millennium, new leader: a new stage of development (2003–2020)».
Education and science: new foundations
Education. One of the first steps of cultural independence was the law at the end of 1991 returning the Azerbaijani alphabet to the Latin script; new textbooks, dictionaries and trained staff were needed. In 1992 the Law on Education was adopted. Because of the Karabakh war hundreds of thousands of refugee children studied in temporary schools, yet at the end of the 1990s education reform began. A state programme for training young people abroad was adopted in 1997, in 2005 Azerbaijan joined the Bologna process (integration of higher education into the European area), and in 2009 a new Law on Education came into force.
Science. The centre of science was the Academy of Sciences founded in 1945; in 2001 it received the status «National» — the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). The academy’s institutes continued research in oil, energy, mathematics, history and linguistics and built ties with foreign scientific centres. One Azerbaijani known in world science was Lotfi Zadeh (1921–2017), born in Baku: the theory of fuzzy sets he put forward in 1965 was widely applied in computer technology.
| Cause | Result |
|---|---|
| Return to the Latin alphabet (1991) | new textbooks and dictionaries; education built on a national basis |
| Membership of UNESCO (1992) | heritage put forward for international lists: mugham (2003), the Old City (2000) |
| The Bologna process (2005) | European standards in higher education, chances to study abroad |
| Political stability and oil revenues | new venues such as the Crystal Hall, the Olympic Stadium and the Heydar Aliyev Center |
The arts: from national heritage to the world stage
Intangible cultural heritageDefinition
Music, festivals, craft skills and games handed down orally from generation to generation; they are entered in a separate UNESCO list. Monuments, towns and landscapes (material heritage) go to the World Heritage List.
Azerbaijan became a member of UNESCO in 1992. In 2003 this organisation proclaimed mugham among the «masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity» (in 2008 mugham was moved to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage). In later years ashiq art and Novruz (2009), carpet weaving (2010), the making and playing of the tar (2012), the chovgan game (2013) and kelaghayi (2014) were entered in the lists.
| Heritage item | Year |
|---|---|
| Mugham (proclaimed a masterpiece) | 2003 |
| Ashiq art; Novruz | 2009 |
| Carpet weaving | 2010 |
| Making and playing the tar | 2012 |
| The chovgan game | 2013 |
| Kelaghayi | 2014 |
The modern stage. Azerbaijan took part in Eurovision for the first time in 2008 and in 2011 won in Düsseldorf with the duo Ell and Nikki; as winner, it held the contest in 2012 in Baku, in the newly built Crystal Hall. The cultural life of the capital changed too: the International Mugham Centre opened in 2008, the Heydar Aliyev Center, designed by Zaha Hadid, in 2012, and in 2014 the Carpet Museum moved into a new building designed in the shape of a carpet. On 6 August 1998 press censorship was abolished; the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, set up in 2004, supported the restoration of monuments and the promotion of culture.
World Heritage: five places
| Site | Place | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Old City (Shirvanshahs’ Palace, Maiden Tower) | Baku | 2000 |
| Gobustan rock art | Gobustan | 2007 |
| Historic centre of Shaki, Khan’s Palace | Shaki | 2019 |
| Hirkan forests | Lankaran–Astara | 2023 |
| Khinalug cultural landscape | Guba | 2023 |
Interactive
| Feature | World Heritage List | Intangible heritage list |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | monuments, towns, landscapes | music, festivals, crafts, games |
| Azerbaijani examples | the Old City, Gobustan, Shaki | mugham, Novruz, tar, kelaghayi |
| How it is kept alive | restoration and protection | master–pupil tradition |
Sport and the Olympic movement
The Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee was founded in 1992 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1993; in 1997 Ilham Aliyev was elected its president. The national team of the independent country first took part in the Summer Olympic Games in 1996 in Atlanta; our athletes won Olympic medals in wrestling, judo, boxing and weightlifting. Chess carried on an old tradition: Garry Kasparov, born in Baku, had been world champion since 1985, and in the years of independence grandmasters such as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov emerged.
In the 2010s political stability, oil revenues and new stadiums and arenas turned Baku into a centre of major competitions: in 2015 the first European Games, in 2016 a Formula 1 race (in the first year under the name European Grand Prix, from 2017 the Azerbaijan Grand Prix) and the 42nd Chess Olympiad, in 2017 the Islamic Solidarity Games, in 2019 the final of the UEFA Europa League. These events raised the country’s image and revived tourism.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Eurovision Song Contest |
| 2015 | First European Games |
| 2016 | Formula 1; 42nd Chess Olympiad |
| 2017 | Islamic Solidarity Games |
| 2019 | UEFA Europa League final |
Interactive
| Person | Date | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Lotfi Zadeh | 1965 | author of the theory of fuzzy sets |
| Ell and Nikki | 2011 | Azerbaijan’s first Eurovision winners |
| Zaha Hadid | 2012 | architect of the Heydar Aliyev Center |
| Ilham Aliyev | 1997 | elected president of the National Olympic Committee |
| Garry Kasparov | 1985 | Baku-born world chess champion |
- 1991
Law returning to the Latin alphabet
- 1992
The Law on Education
- 1992
Membership of UNESCO; the National Olympic Committee is founded
- 1996
Atlanta Olympics: independent Azerbaijan’s first appearance
- 6 August 1998
Press censorship is abolished
- 2000
The Old City on the World Heritage List
- 2003
UNESCO proclaims mugham a masterpiece
- 2005
Joining the Bologna process
- 2007
Gobustan on the UNESCO list
- 2011
Eurovision victory (Düsseldorf)
- 2012
Eurovision in Baku; opening of the Heydar Aliyev Center
- 2015
The first European Games in Baku
- 2016
Formula 1 race and the Chess Olympiad
- 2017
Islamic Solidarity Games
- 2019
Historic centre of Shaki on the UNESCO list
- 2023
Hirkan forests and Khinalug on the UNESCO list
Source: the international decision on mugham
This musical genre lives through oral tradition: the master hands the melodies and style of performance on to the pupil, generation after generation. The performer does not play from a ready score but improvises anew each time; the singer delivers fragments of poetry to the accompaniment of the tar and the kamancha.
An international cultural organisation proclaimed this genre a masterpiece to be protected from disappearing and called on the state to take measures to preserve it.
Source tasks
Problem
1) Name the genre, the organisation and the country, none of which are named in the text, and give the year of the proclamation.
2) Explain one cultural reason and one reason linked to state policy for the survival of this genre across generations.
3) Give two consequences of this decision that are NOT stated in the text.
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Solution
2) Cultural: the master–pupil tradition and live performance in gatherings. State policy: membership of UNESCO (1992) and state support for mugham. Marks: both — 1; one — ½.
3) Mugham was moved to the Representative List in 2008; the International Mugham Centre opened in Baku (2008); mugham took a larger place in music education and festivals. Marks: two consequences — 1; one — ½; «measures to preserve it» is in the text and earns nothing.
Exam-type tasks
Exam task: matching
Problem
Match the heritage items with the year of their entry in UNESCO lists:
1. Proclamation of mugham as a masterpiece
2. Novruz
3. Making and playing the tar
4. Kelaghayi
a. 2009 b. 2003 c. 2012 d. 2014
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Solution
Step 2: Novruz was entered in 2009, the same year as ashiq art (2-a).
Step 3: The tar is 2012 (3-c), kelaghayi the latest — 2014 (4-d).
Answer: 1-b, 2-a, 3-c, 4-d.
Exam task: «not related»
Problem
Which does NOT belong to the sports events held in Baku in the years of independence?
A) the first European Games
B) the Islamic Solidarity Games
C) the 42nd Chess Olympiad
D) the XXII Summer Olympic Games (1980)
E) the UEFA Europa League final
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Solution
Step 2: The 1980 Olympics belongs to the Soviet period and was held in Moscow.
Answer: D.
Exam task: «similar, different»
Problem
Gobustan was similar to the Old City and different from the historic centre of Shaki. Which feature is this?
1. Being entered in the UNESCO World Heritage List before 2010
2. Having a khan’s palace
3. Having rock images
4. Being entered in the list in 2023
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Solution
Step 2: The khan’s palace (2) belongs only to Shaki, the rock images (3) only to Gobustan; 2023 (4) fits none of them.
Answer: only 1.
Exam task: chronology
Problem
Put the events in chronological order:
1. First Olympic appearance in Atlanta
2. Founding of the National Olympic Committee
3. Election of Ilham Aliyev as the committee’s president
4. The first European Games in Baku
5. The Formula 1 race in Baku
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Solution
Step 2: Then the European Games — 2015 (4), Formula 1 — 2016 (5).
Answer: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5.
The picture of culture, science and sport in the years of independence shows that political stability and economic means opened the way to protecting heritage and to ties with the world. For cultural rebuilding after the victory see «After the Victory: «Revenge», the anti-terror operation and the Great Return»; for the map of monuments by district see «Monuments of Azerbaijan on the map, by period and district».
Remember
- Return to the Latin alphabet in 1991, the Law on Education in 1992, the programme of study abroad in 1997, the Bologna process in 2005, a new education law in 2009.
- The Academy of Sciences was founded in 1945 and became «National» in 2001 (ANAS); Lotfi Zadeh put forward the theory of fuzzy sets in 1965.
- Mugham was proclaimed a masterpiece in 2003; ashiq art and Novruz — 2009, carpet — 2010, tar — 2012, chovgan — 2013, kelaghayi — 2014.
- World Heritage List: the Old City (2000), Gobustan (2007), Shaki (2019), Hirkan forests and Khinalug (2023).
- Eurovision victory — 2011; the contest in Baku and the opening of the Heydar Aliyev Center — 2012.
- The National Olympic Committee was founded in 1992; Atlanta 1996; in Baku the European Games 2015, Formula 1 and the Chess Olympiad 2016, the Islamic Solidarity Games 2017.