UNESCO to host Gobustan Week
By Nigar Orujova
The Gobustan Week will be held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Strasbourg on September 15-16, Azertag state news agency reported.
The week will be co-organized by the Azerbaijan's Permanent Mission to UNESCO, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Culture and Tourism Ministry.
Moreover, a photo exhibition will be held and a ballet called "Shadows of Gobustan" will be staged at UNESCO Headquarters.
Dancers of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, UK's famous choreographer Maxine Braham and other leading experts were involved in the preparation of the event.
It will bring together representatives of UNESCO Secretariat and UNESCO member states.
An Azerbaijani delegation led by Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev will attend the event.
Alongside, as it is known, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is chaired by Azerbaijan in May-November. During this period, a number of events are expected to be held to promote Azerbaijani culture.
The ancient Gobustan is one of the venues coming in mind when thinking about Azerbaijan. This "must see" place for all the tourists is situated 101 km away from Baku and is one of the most ancient settlements in Azerbaijan.
Gobustan's petroglyphs stand out for their thematic diversity and plot originality, and the artistic skill of their makers.
The 6,000-year-old rock engravings, the evidence of human habitation that spans 25,000 years, inhabited caves, settlements, and burials these all can be seen in Gobustan.
Pictures of primitive men, animals, battles, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, sun, and stars are engraved on these weather-beaten stones.
This place has also a unique energy because it has been a place of sanctuary and worships for ages.