The Medina Gallery in Icherisheher has hosted an event dedicated
to the kalagayi, an Azerbaijani women's quadrangular headdress made
from silk threads.
The event was organised by the NGO Arts Council of Azerbaijan,
which is a member of the World Crafts Council Europe. During the
evening, it was brought to the attention that the Azerbaijani
kalagayi is included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural
Heritage, Azernews reports.
Deputy head of the NGO Arts Council Azerbaijan and
representative of the World Crafts Council Europe in Azerbaijan,
Sona Guliyeva, said that the main purpose of the event is to
popularise and promote the art of kalagayi.
"We want our youth to show even greater interest in kelagai and
develop and promote this ancient craft. Also, our task is to
promote our traditions, national crafts, decorative and applied
arts so that more people learn about them in Europe," said Sona
Guliyeva.
According to her, today many women have kalagayi in their
wardrobes and skillfully combine an ancient silk scarf with modern
clothes.
Designer and writer Sabina Zulalova informed those present about
the social project "YAŞADAQ. Ümid qanadları" (For the birth of
life). Wings of Hope), of which she is a co-founder. The goal of
the project is to show the connection between the birth of girls
and the transmission of cultural heritage.
Sabina Zulalova stressed that the national scarf has accompanied
a woman's life path from time immemorial.
Felt and silk dyeing specialist Mahbuba Mammadova said that
foreign guests visiting Azerbaijan show great interest in silk
scarves.
"In my work, I decided to bring innovation to the method of
dyeing silk scarves. I use a relatively new technique that has
existed for 20 years, and it is called "eco-printing.” I dye our
locally produced silks using this technique," she said.
The event dedicated to kalagayi aroused great public
interest.
Media partners of the event are Azernews, Trend, Day,
Milli.