Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The United States will host Days of Azerbaijani Culture next year.

Director of Asian Cultural History Program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Professor Paul Taylor, is on a visit to Azerbaijan within the program of cooperation with the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

The aim of the visit is to discuss the projects which will be jointly implemented by Nizami Ganjavi International Center and the Smithsonian Institution as well as issues related to the preparations for the Days of Azerbaijani Culture, which will be held in Washington in 2014.

During his meetings with government agencies Taylor is discussing issues such as joint publications aiming to promote Azerbaijani culture and history, holding various exhibitions, seminars and presentations at the Smithsonian Institute as well as opening of a representation of the Nizami Ganjavi center in Washington.

These projects are implemented with the support of Azerbaijan's State Committee for Work with Diaspora.

Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities.

The National Museum of Natural History is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Museum is dedicated to inspiring curiosity, discovery and learning about the natural world through its unparalleled research, collections, exhibitions, and education outreach programs. Opened in 1910, the green-domed museum on the National Mall was among the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to house the national collections and research facilities.

Nizami Ganjavi International Center with its head office in Azerbaijan's second largest city, Ganja, was established in September 2012 to increase awareness of the great works of Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, to help return his masterpieces to the homeland, to serve as a depository for Nizami's works, and to further develop the values embodied in his works through community engagement.

Nizami Ganjavi, the 12th century greatest representative of the Eastern Renaissance, displayed the quintessence of world literature and philosophy in his immortal work Khamsa (Five), via the aesthetic power of his art.