LIVING LEGENDS

Can you believe that puppets can have charisma? Believe it or not, this quality, rare even among people, is characteristic of the unique puppets created by the talent and imagination of the Azerbaijani artist Tamilla Qurbanova. They first "came to light" about two years ago on the sidelines of a festival held in the Old Town. They stood above and separate like heavenly envoys in an exhibition hall and gently looked down at people. Each of them was wearing its own marvellously colourful outfit made of fine cloth as if from the sun and air, recalling the names that were given to them from "birth" - "Spring", "Winter", "Summer" and "Autumn". Each of them had a glimmer of life and emitted an emanation. It seemed that natural phenomena can be "humanized" in puppets, and in such a fiery and lively way that you are literally imbued with the "mood" of the lifeless object. Can this really happen? It can. The beautiful always captivates, changes, regenerates, renews, purges and even cures those who cast even one glance upon it.

"Everything must be beautiful in people…"

Tamilla Qurbanova's name is quite well-known in Baku. It is no accident that she receives various orders and requests to create portrait puppets for famous people. This also stimulates the creative search of this master who is not just an artist, indeed it is easier to say what she cannot do rather than enumerate all her talents. She is not just a sculptor, she is also a fashion designer and seamstress (Tamilla herself creates the clothes for her puppets). There are very few masters in the world who combine such a variety of skills and abilities, and it is no accident that many of them have their own staff. Not Qurbanova, who creates, I would say, her own masterpieces. The secret of the magnetic power of her puppets is also that each of them contains a particle of her soul and heart and a flight of poetic thought. Yes, Tamilla Qurbanova has a poetic gift as well, and the first audience for her poems are the puppets she speaks to at work as though they were alive. This is how the puppets acquire living energy. Its positive nature is also noted by those who were lucky enough to have a sculptural puppet from the author. This is the name of the genre in which Qurbanova works.

The artist decided to create these puppets about five years ago, although fate had been preparing her from childhood. The time she spent at the sculptural faculty of the Azim Azimzada arts college was a prelude. She stood out from her classmates for her highly developed creative thinking. While others obediently created works on the subjects they had been given - "labour" or "sports", she presented her teacher with her fantasies personified in gypsum or plasticine. The teacher was surprised: "What is this? What name did you give it?" Her answer "The Allegory of Water" did not clarify things because a simple and uncomplicated task had been given. But how can you explain that you are not interested in it and that you don't feel like doing it?! "Where is the idea here?" the teacher continued "questioning" her. The work itself is an idea that has been embodied! In order to avoid such questions, she had to make figures of oil workers, workers and farmers all the time… But still, there were teachers in the college who saw a special talent in her. One of them is the well-known sculptor Mammad Salahov. Admiring her works, he said: "You will go far; you have to go to study in Moscow…" Her thesis was the image of a sad clown sitting on a ball with a parrot in his hand - his only interlocutor. It is based on the philosophical idea that the world is changeable and unstable and on human loneliness. Could the young student have known at the time that soon this image would become a reality for many people in the world? Years later, she created the image of a solar clown - Harlequin, and recently she completed work on the image of Pierrot - a puppet which is sad, but at the same time, touching, attractive and lively. This work is another masterpiece in which the outfit of the clown, his every detail, colour, the turn of his head and the position of his hands serve to reveal his image and another philosophical idea. It makes you realise that the image is carefully thought out in the same way in theatrical performance. Such a fine work is expensive and, in essence, Tamilla Qurbanova's puppets are works of fine art. This explains the great demand for them, or to be more precise, for her talent to create spiritual and lively images. Incidentally, in the puppets "Autumn", "Spring", "Winter" and "Summer", the sculptor conveys not just the state of nature, she also tries to convey the four ages of woman.

"Since time immemorial, the puppet has been created at a mystical level and has been perceived as a human model," the artist says. "Every one of my puppets has its own energy and aura, which is why it is not just a puppet, but also an image with which I communicate as a living creature during work, and living in the interior - in the flat, museum or exhibition hall or anywhere - it brings the positive charge of energy that the artist invested in it. I am not indifferent to where my creature goes or what sort of energy it has, as if it applies to me personally."

Almost a double

To mark the 200th anniversary of Azerbaijani State Customs, Tamilla Qurbanova created two portrait puppets - the President of the World Customs Organization, Michel Danet, who participated in the anniversary events, and a representative of Interpol. It was a very important and interesting job for her. The result surpassed all her expectations. Danet, who cut the red ribbon, was one of the first to enter the hall and when he suddenly saw his double he was surprised and delighted. The copy was quite accurate and recognizable, which was highly appreciated by his colleagues. The images of famous characters - Masadi Ibad and Gulnaz - were a great success for Tamilla. These puppets were presented by the staff of the Bulbul Music School to our countryman - the late Mstislav Rostropovich. But especially precious to the artist is a puppet of popular Azerbaijani actress Nasiba Zeynalova in the role of her well-known character Qaynana (mother-in-law) - the first in a series of portrait puppets. This is a superlative puppet which Tamilla created in record time - just two weeks.

"I received orders for these puppets from representatives of show business," Tamilla says. "I tried to refuse and, although I am a sculptor, I told them that I had not created anything like that before. And they replied: 'We have no-one else to ask, so please try.' When I heard that I had to do it in an incredibly short time, I was terrified. 'No, you definitely have to do it.' And I agreed because such a great actress as Nasiba Zeynalova deserved a worthy gift. 'You must fulfil this order!' I told myself."

When Nasiba Zeynalova was given her puppet double, she was surprised and soon loved it very much and took a strong liking to it. The actress's granddaughter told the artist that Nasiba used to speak to the puppet, say goodbye to it before going to bed, say hello in the morning and scold it in fun sometimes: "Stop smiling!" It was a pleasure to hear what positive emotions your work can evoke. Since the actress's death, the puppet has been kept at the Azerbaijani Theatre Museum. Speaking about her work, the artist stressed that no puppet is repeated and that every work is exclusive, and even the artist herself cannot repeat it. Also, as a rule she uses natural materials while creating her puppets and orders accessories from a jeweller.

Speaking about herself, Tamilla remembers the time when she sought her own new way in art and decided to begin creating unusual puppets. Her first puppet was "The Greedy Little Sultan" who also had some comic features. Happy, funny and with a handful of gold coins, he made people smile and did not stay with his owner for long - now he "lives" abroad. Her favourite puppet Shahrzad, a magic puppet that brought her success, has left for Scotland. She still keeps the puppets "Spring", "Winter", "Summer" and "Autumn", and the "solar" Harlequin and "lunar" Pierrot -favourites of the audience. Harlequin has even found a "career": he was depicted, making people happy, on a wall-mounted calendar published last year.

Now Tamilla Qurbanova is working on new images. How else will she surprise and gladden the admirers of her talent?!