Azernews.Az

On 30 October 2026, the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art opened Maiden Tower, a solo project by renowned artist Aidan Salakhova. Organised jointly by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, the project is presented as part of the festival Fly to Baku. Art Weekend. Sense the Future NOW.

Sculpture and painting are central to Aidan Salakhova’s practice. In Maiden Tower, these two disciplines enter into dialogue with the exhibition space to create a unified artistic environment. The works and the museum’s architecture become integral to the exhibition experience, inviting visitors to encounter a familiar cultural symbol in a new visual and emotional context.

At the heart of the project is the Maiden Tower, one of the key symbols of Azerbaijani culture. Salakhova approaches it not only as an architectural monument, but also as a cultural image shaped over centuries by legends and oral traditions. The stories associated with the tower, an inseparable part of Baku’s cityscape, have become part of the city’s collective memory.

The tragic ending traditionally associated with the Maiden Tower legend serves as the project’s point of departure. Rather than accepting the familiar story as unchangeable, Salakhova offers a different perspective and poses a fundamental question: does the story have to end the way it has always been told?

Through sculpture, painting and the possibilities of the exhibition space, the artist creates her own interpretation of the legend. The Maiden Tower becomes more than a historical monument or heritage site: it becomes a space in which a familiar story can unfold differently. The project also offers a new perspective on the fate of the legend’s heroine.

The exhibition brings a story inherited from the past into dialogue with a contemporary perspective. It invites visitors not only to consider an alternative ending to the legend, but also to reflect on how stories preserved in collective memory are passed down and how their meanings change over time.

Maiden Tower revisits an image deeply rooted in Azerbaijan’s cultural memory, showing that inherited stories remain open to reinterpretation.

Exhibition dates: 30 October 2026 – 30 January 2027
Opening: 30 October, 18:00
Venue: Azerbaijan National Museum of Art