Women in Azerbaijani Music
A film about women musicians in Azerbaijan today, including singers and instrumentalists on the tar and kamancha. Excerpts of performances and interviews with women are shown to portray how these women experience themselves as musicians, their difficulties and successes at both defining and challenging gender stereotypes. With this content, we expose and develop the theme of difference. Shifting emphasis to the theme of difference instead of equality, this work contributes to the growing field of postfeminism.
Speaker and performer at the Silk Road Chamber Orchestra of Canada
My contribution to this organization (led by the Azerbaijani conductor and performer Ismayil Hajiyev) was comprised of performing at various venues in Toronto and Ottawa, and speaking about the achievements of distinguished Azerbaijani women. Occasions included Azerbaijani national holidays and Forum on Identity, Faith, & Civic Engagement for Muslim Youth Canada, as well as events organized by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.
Mugham Məclisi Project
Our project “Mugham Məclisi” is an attempt to revive the early-twentieth-century tradition of musico-poetical (məcməüş-şüara) mugham gatherings in order to provide an opportunity for aspiring mugham musicians to perform in front of masters and receive critical feedback. Each məclis begins with a lecture and discussion centered on a particular, prior-established theme and led by invited mugham masters, poets, philologists, and religious figures. The themes will be chosen so as to explore particular issues that students of mugham are usually not exposed to at official institutions. The presentation by mugham masters is followed by musical performances by students and subsequent discussion of their performance.
Funding Body: Youth Foundation (Ministry of Education, Azerbaijan)
Venue: Tahir Salahov House Museum, The Old City, Baku
Project Lead: Polina Dessiatnitchenko, Yoshito Katanoda, Sadiq Ahmadov
