...AND THE XONCA BEGINS TO TALK

In human history, the woman's role is to be a homemaker, and in a broader sense - the guardian of national traditions, rituals and in short, cultural values. Many Azerbaijani women, with a particular profession and place of work, are also great hostesses, cook amazingly delicious and wonderful food and have an inborn talent to skillfully decorate their home. Striking proof of this is Irada Amiraslanova. As an excellent expert in her field, she has always been interested in art, literature and music. This love for all aesthetically pleasing things gradually swallowed her so much that it captured all her spare time and transformed her life. You can no longer call it by the simple word "hobby". This hobby has grown beyond the scope of leisure and become a vocation or a second profession.

Novruz of creativity

Novruz is one of the dearest holidays of our people. The wait for spring, the burst of energy, new hopes and dreams - all this makes the atmosphere of the holiday exciting and joyful. The special creative spirit on this holiday led Irada to make his first Novruz xonca in 2003. The idea captivated her completely, and eventually she began to create whole compositions of fruits and flowers - depending on who she gave them. This original idea immediately struck a chord among her friends and acquaintances. Now she is not only a recognized master, but also the author of the idea.

In her compositions on the theme of Novruz, Irada certainly uses all sorts of options of the buta. This is Canq-buta, Tak-buta, Qosa butalar, xonca - Tirma, Dilakli buta, Buta - a lyrical conversation, etc. Public recognition also resulted in customized products: such as a xonca with the emblem of Azerbaijan, xonca of various companies and organizations - BP, Icarisahar, Hotel Kempinski, Topaz and so on.

For the first time, with the assistance of the management of the Hotel Kempinski, Irada organized a unique exhibition in the tradition of Novruz. The exhibition, which was a great success and was attended by the ambassadors of many countries, was widely covered in the press and on television and familiarized broad circles of foreign visitors with national traditions and helped to see them from the inside and with one's own eyes. The exhibition featured more than 50 of her works.

Irada masterfully combines different types of flowers, fruits and dried fruits, crystalline forms of nabat, achieving unique colour effects, aroma and shapes. She is very fond of the atmosphere of oriental luxury. She often uses eastern low and wide sofas with carpets and embroidered mutakka cushions to decorate the interior, and all this beauty is crowned with magnificent tents and canopies, giving the room royal splendour.

The master is in constant search: for new materials, new compositions and colour combinations, and finally, new ideas. The range of topics broadens and becomes richer from year to year. This year, she turned to the rich heritage of the Azerbaijani carpet and artistic fabric, made a whole album of elements from both the heritage of the past centuries and our famous contemporary Latif Karimov, and interprets pomegranate motifs that are much-loved by contemporary artists, as well as "Islimi", "Afsan" and others. For example, among the latest creative successes we can name "Laleyi Abbasi - handasi" (geometric pattern) and "Laleyi Abbasi - nabati" (floral pattern). An original innovation is the use of an artistic fabric pattern from Tabriz she saw in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. This is a 17th century composition based on the Ipak tikma technique with the classic pattern "Sakkiz Ulduz".

Irada has a whole lab with lots of tools and a large library, and everything breathes with a creative atmosphere. She finds new rare raw materials in the most remote corners of the earth, which makes the colours of her works even richer. All this, in turn, leads to innovations in technology.

Work of this kind is truly elaborate and requires large mental and physical costs. Overall, we must say that these are elite products for connoisseurs and fans.

To be Azerbaijani

Since childhood, Irada herself has been surrounded with and now lives in the world of Francophony. As head of the French Language and Literature Department at the University of Languages, her mother Xalida had a profound influence on the formation and choice of her daughter's profession. As a result, interest grew into a serious hobby and then into a profession. Today, she teaches French in the department of culture and language at the French embassy. And she has been working at BSU for 25 years - after successfully defending her thesis she continues to teach at the Faculty of International Relations at Baku State University.

Self-knowledge and understanding national identity through others: French and Russian culture. It reflects the very essence of Baku. We all know what a multiethnic and multi-confessional city the capital of Azerbaijan is. The unique wealth of culture gave birth to the "golden" post-war period. Irada herself admits: "I have never separated myself from others and have always felt part of society. Only seriously studying French and Russian culture, did I realize the uniqueness and richness of my own Azerbaijani culture and become aware of myself as Azerbaijani and Bakuvian. I think only knowing others, is it possible to comprehend your own culture."

Comprehension of any culture is defined by knowledge of history, culture and art. When the borders were opened, Irada was one of the first to organize a trip for students to France and was an active participant in festivals in Nantes from 1995 to 2000, including festivals of Azerbaijani cinema. And no wonder that it was in her old apartment located in the heart of the capital - in Icarisahar that Yegor Konchalovskiy made the film "Baku, I love you". Here the situation is typical for houses of the Baku nobility of the time of the first oil boom in the late 19th - early 20th century.

Now Irada is a recognized master of her craft and has in fact created a new kind of folk art, albeit short-lived due to the properties of the material, but always desirable and wanted. She is frequently invited by the leadership of the Icarisahar Reserve to various events. She accompanies honourable guests from abroad as a carrier of the best traditions of Azerbaijani culture. Irada is in constant intense creative search and will continue to delight us with her works that carry happiness and joy.