IN THE PARALLEL WORLD OF THE SCULPTOR

Mahmud Rustamov is part of a great creative dynasty. His father, Aslan Rustamov, and his elder brother, Teymur, are both well-known sculptors, so it is not surprising that from early childhood Mahmud dreamed of becoming a famous sculptor and devoted all his time to art. His talent stood out in his youth, and in 2000 Maxmud Rustamov won the "Sculptor of the Year" prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Youth and Sport. At various times the young sculptor has taken part in the International Biennale of contemporary art in Baku, and in 2003 took part in the "Mart" ["March"] youth exhibition in Moscow. In his career the artist has staged a number of private and joint exhibitions. Mahmud's work has been shown in many countries and he is also the creator of monumental sculptures in Azerbaijan and abroad.

- Mahmud, your work is quite unusual - a sort of combination of fantasy and reality. Where do you get your ideas from?

- It's this other space, a parallel world, in which I live. When I was a child I loved to read science fiction. I have an amazing imagination! I was absorbed in science fiction, I "travelled" in space with my heroes from books and imagined how the Martians might live. And childhood fantasies are certainly reflected in my work. I like to link the unlinkable and create unusual sculptures.

- Like your father Aslan Rustamov and your uncle and elder brother Teymur you have devoted your life to sculpture. What do you like about it?

- Yes, as far as I can recall, I have always had pictures and sculptures around me. As a child, I loved to spend time in my father's workshop. I was fascinated by how he worked and tried to create something. After school I used to go the sculpture faculty of the Azimzada Azerbaijani State College, and then it was a question of where to go next and where to continue my education - Moscow, Leningrad or Tbilisi. But I didn't have to go anywhere. Fortunately for me, the sculpture faculty, of which I became a student, opened at the State Arts University that year. Then there were creative workshops at the USSR Academy of Arts run by Omar Eldarov. Incidentally, it was my grandfather, Mahmud Rustamov, who instilled a love of art in my father and his brothers. He was fairly successful in those days as a businessman - he owned salt lakes in Abseron and a factory in Bilacari. A letter by Nariman Narimanov, in which he asks my grandfather to help the Red Army by sending several wagon loads of salt to the front, is still kept in the family archives. Then all my grandfather's property was confiscated and he himself was put in prison for ten long years. My grandfather died in 1967, several years before I was born, and I was named after him. Papa used to say that grandfather loved music and art. He insisted that his sons learnt music and the arts. My grandfather's friends, who were enterprising Jews, advised him "not to fill the children's heads with nonsense". "Mahmud, what is the point of music and painting nowadays?" they repeated to grandfather. "Your sons should become lawyers, doctors or businessmen." Grandfather just smiled and continued to pay for private music and drawing lessons. As for your question about what I like about my profession, I'll be brief - freedom and the opportunity to express myself.

- You are a sculptor who works with various materials, from marble to bronze. Do you agree with those who say that in order to be considered an artist you have to go though an arts school and learn the technical side of the process? Or is it enough to have an idea and try to put it over as much as you can?

- If you don't have the technique it's possible you won't be able to send out your message. You have to study, learn theory and keep practising. Then you'll be able to project your ideas in sculpture. I believe you can be a professional in any sphere, whatever it is.

- But does art need money?

- Yes, it does but let's get our priorities right. Money is transient, art isn't. It may be that at some stage of human development we will do away with money, but if we do away with art we'll perish.

- How long does it take you to do a sculpture?

- I usually set myself a task to create a sculpture in one day. That's difficult, of course, but perfectly possible. But time isn't important. The main thing is to transfer the idea to the sculpture to give it a definite meaning and breathe life into it. Lately I've been working without any sketches. An idea for a work comes into my head and all I have to do is embody it in stone or clay.

- Which gives you more satisfaction - creating small sculptures, works for private collections or large-scale urban sculptures which thousands of people can see every day?

- For me there is no difference. I simply like doing my job. I get satisfaction from every sculpture, whether it's large or small, for a private collection or for a town. Satisfaction comes from the heart - I'm happy when I am able to carry through an original idea.

- One of your works - "Ana harayi" - which you did together with your father and brother commemorates the Xocali [Khojaly] tragedy. How did you create this monument?

- Another monument, created in 1993, stood on the site of the current memorial near the Xatai metro station. The old one was created in a rush and it did not reflect the whole tragedy of those terrible events. That's why the decision was made to replace it with a new one - more solid and imposing. The new monument of black granite and bronze is much taller than the previous one. Whereas the old one was four metres high the current one, including the plinth, is about nine metres. Practical information about the tragedy: "26 February 1992: The genocide in Xocali" has been engraved on the trapezoidal base of the monument in Azeri and English. In addition, we have added on the plinth itself a bas-relief in the shape of a circle reflecting the tragedy of the Azerbaijani people, as well as the names of the 613 innocent people who died at Xocali.

- What do you think should be done for people to want come to museums and art galleries? How can you get young people today who have been brought up on information technology to become interested in art?

- About ten years ago I was invited to the Art in Action festival which was being held in Oxford. I remember bumping into some Japanese children with disabilities at London airport. Many of them were in wheelchairs. At first I thought they had come to London for treatment. But a volunteer who was accompanying me explained that the children had come a long way to see London and visit the museums and galleries. I was really surprised…Would many of our schoolchildren visit museums or be interested in art galleries? When I was young the teachers used to take us to museums and tried to teach us a sense of what was beautiful. Children today are not interested in such trips. And the parents of these children are not keen on visiting museums and galleries. When they go abroad our people prefer to sit by the pool, dine in restaurants or go shopping. Why is that? Is it a lack of time? That's no reason, not even an excuse. Most young people spend their evenings aimlessly and pointlessly at home at the computer. We must promote art and make it fashionable to visit museums, art galleries and theatres. We must teach children about good taste and a sense of what is beautiful from a very early age, while they are still at school. The spiritual health of all our people depends on this.

- Tell us about your work with the non-commercial YARAT! organization which supports the development of contemporary art in Azerbaijan.

- I'm pleased that there are people in Azerbaijan who are into art and support creative young people. We have a lot of gifted painters, sculptors, directors and photographers who need support and understanding from outside. It's nice to know that somebody is interested in and wants your work. I have been working with YARAT! for several years now. Two years ago, as part of the 012 Baku Public Art Festival, there was a presentation of my "Alternativa" project. An unusual work of sculpture - a creature from outer space following a rhinoceros - was erected near the Maiden Tower.

- That's rather a strange thing to place next to Baku's main symbol…Why a creature from outer space?

- We still do not have an exact date of when the Maiden Tower was built. So I believe that a version of its extra-terrestrial origin has the right to exist, and that's what I was holding on to. Incidentally, I gave the cosmic composition a dash of national colour by placing a pomegranate, which since ancient times has been regarded as a spiritual symbol of Azerbaijani culture, on the horn of the chicken- rhinoceros. And the rhinoceros himself, charging headlong, in the eyes of the sculptor rather personifies our rapidly developing city which is progressing literally before our eyes. I placed a windmill in the hands of the "humanoid" which revolves as the Baku winds blow. This sculpture stood near the Maiden Tower for quite a while, and when it was dismantled the people of Icari Sahar [Icheri Sheher; Old Town] were sad that the "alien" had been taken away. It turned out that he had made them feel better.

- Do you remember your first work, and what was it?

- It was a drawing which Papa still keeps in his workshop. I was four and I tried to draw a man. My father had gathered together a decent pile of drawings done by me and my brother. He collects the same "creations" by his grandchildren today with the same love. The first sculpture I did was for my diploma - "Zarathustra" - which was later acquired by Icari Sahar.

- Which of the monuments in the city would you say is a kind of symbol of Baku, not counting the Maiden Tower, of course?

- For me, it is the sculpture "Bahram-Gur", which was erected in 1958 opposite the Baku cable-railway on Neftcilar Prospekti Str. Incidentally, this was one of the first monuments in Baku cast in bronze. "Bahram-Gur" represents an episode from Nizami's poem "The Seven Beauties" - a mythical hero who fights a dragon. The monument symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, because in eastern mythology the dragon was a symbol of evil. In Soviet times, when sculptures to the leaders of the world's proletariat and identical alabaster statues of workers and collective farmers were put up everywhere, the emergence of such an allegorical composition presented severe difficulties. It was only thanks to the then mayor, Alis Lambaranski, that "Bahram-Gur" occupied a worthy position in the centre of our city. Incidentally, my father Aslan Rustamov sculpted this cult monument with his friends Albert Mustafayev and Qorxmaz Sucaddinov. They were still students when they decided to go in for a competition for the decorative improvement of Baku and did not even think about winning it. The young sculptors' unexpected success was nice for everyone.

- Mahmud, are you satisfied at the way your life has turned out? Is everything OK with you?

- Of course. I have a wonderful family and good friends. I love my job which, apart from satisfaction, brings me a decent income. What else do you need to make you happy? Last year one of my works was sold by Sotheby's auction house and I got a decent fee for that…

- You mean the unusual "Glamour Genetics"? I wonder, what was the idea behind this strange, I might say mad work?

- (laughs)  It's not that mad! I brought together in one figure a ram's head, a goat's feet and the lower jaw and thigh bone of a cow and dressed this "mutant" in a bright-red synthetic fur. It turned out glamorous and beautiful. Where did the idea of "Glamour Genetics" come from? You know the saying: "All that glisters is not gold".