PRESERVING IDENTITY

Zakir Ahmadov's amazing relief sculpture is full of elegance and grace. His bronze tea-man delights people relaxing in a city park, and eight bas-reliefs adorn a building on famous Torgovaya Street. Several more works by Zakir Ahmadov, a member of the USSR Artists Union and the Azerbaijani Artists Union, have found a worthy place in the Mustafayev Museum of Arts and a good number of his sculptures are in private collections all over the world.

- When did you start your career?

- I was born in Baku into an ordinary family. My mother was from Susa and my father from South Azerbaijan. My father would spend whole days working in the local garage, while mother taught in a school. Our family had a special feeling for art. My mother's brother - Uncle Yunus - loved painting and he kept some of his works in our house. I would gaze at the pictures and dream of learning how to draw as professionally as that. My brother, Xanlar, who is 9 years older than me (Azerbaijani People's Artist Xanlar Ahmadov - author's note) was already studying at the A.Azimzada Azerbaijani Art College. In the evenings, after studies, he would shut himself away in his room and mould figures out of clay, and I would secretly watch him. That was when my interest in the art of sculpture began. I tried to copy my brother and moulded animals and people out of clay. At break times I would use coloured pencils to draw in an album my mother bought me. Seeing that I was fascinated by art, my parents enrolled me in a drawing circle at the Yuriy Gagarin Pioneers Home where Mesime xanim [term of respect] looked after me.

Naturally, after leaving secondary school, the question of which profession I would choose had not arisen. In 1978 I joined the A. Azimzada Art College and then the Azerbaijani University of Art.

- At the University of Art you studied at the sculpture faculty. Why didn't you become an artist?

- Because I loved sculpture. I was lucky. The year I was preparing to go to college a sculpture faculty opened at the University of Art. Naturally, I would have been stupid to miss my chance. I submitted the documents, passed the examination and joined. I was a pupil in Tokay Mammadov's class. There were 14 of us, the first graduates of the sculpture faculty, and we are still doing what we love doing and are in demand.

- Tell us about your first major work. What was it?

- The first serious work I did was a three-metre sculpture called Ajemi, which is now in the M.F.Axundov National Library. This was a state order and I worked long on this sculpture.

- What do you prefer - small figurines or larger sculptures?

- Small figurines. They are more emotive, perhaps… They are compact, can be placed in any apartment and you can touch them whenever you like and feel their warmth and positive energy.

- Decorative or urban sculpture is also popular today. What do you think about these strange figures and sculptures appearing on the streets of Baku?

- You mean those weird and odd-looking figures on Maritime Boulevard and Fountains Square? I am against poor-quality sculptures. When you look at them you get the impression they have been cast by a novice student. Before decorative sculptures are placed in Baku it should be decided how they will blend in with the city environment. Urban sculpture should look natural. Sculptures in general should not be placed in streets and parks willy-nilly - they are art forms and symbols and they should teach what is beautiful and harmonious. What's more important here - is it form, subject, something else that makes the viewer shudder, rejoice, or perhaps just admire? All of those things. It's all about precision, clear shape, relief and compulsive unity of form and content and integrity, without which a figure has no life. I also think that the name of the artist should be revealed on urban sculptures. Unfortunately, this little touch, which defines the national school of sculpture, is almost completely absent in modern works. Was it like that in the past? Did there not used to be a special commission that decided whether a work was good enough to have a place in the city or in an exhibition? Some sculptors had to pass through this commission five or seven times and each time the price of their work went down and down. In other words, they were working for peanuts. That is why the sculptors approached their work so seriously and responsibly.

- Which of your works would you never part with?

- Probably this one (the sculptor points to a romantic figure of a boy and girl - author's note). It's called "The Lovers". I made it 13 years ago and it is very dear to me. It brings nostalgia and happy memories of youth and first love to everyone who sees it.

- Most of the subjects in your works remind one of elves in fairy tales - light and elegant. Where do you get these unusual forms from?

- They're in my imagination. They are perfect images of love, beauty and grace.

- Where are the young Azerbaijani sculptors and artists lacking?

- Originality. The Georgians have managed to preserve their identity and their style in sculpture and art. Unfortunately, many of our young people are not interested in modern art trends and have rather forgotten their origins.

I believe that before starting to paint pictures or mould sculptures you should be trained by a real master of his craft. Yes, of course, knowledge of theory is quite significant, but practical work is more important. In his day Leonardo da Vinci was a simple apprentice to the Italian sculptor and artist Verrocchio. He observed his tutor at work and learnt how to paint, sculpt and model over seven long years and only then did he qualify as a master in the Guild of St Luke.

- There are also canvases and carpets among the sculptures in your workshop. Are they your works?

- Yes. I started painting quite recently. I felt the urge to take up paints and everything went smoothly. As far as carpets are concerned, I started making them in 1998. A friend and I decided to try and prepare some designs for a number of carpets. That led to "The meeting of the Prophet Muhammed", "Hazrati Ali" and "Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Aleksandra Fedorovna".

- Have any of your children followed in your footsteps?

- I have two daughters. Sabina has graduated from the Azerbaijani State University of Economics, and her younger sister Fidan is still studying at fourth grade at the same university. Then there is my grandson Cavad who loves painting and moulding. We'll see what he is going to be in about ten years' time. But personally I wouldn't advise him to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. The profession of a sculptor or an artist is so complex and unstable that you need to think a hundred times before making it your choice.