Turkay Gasimzade, AZ

ETN Conference 2025 in Sheki - "Another look at the textile story of the city, woven from halva till a shebeke art"

Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Tourism of Azerbaijan Republic presents

If we go beyond Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and look at the cities stretching from north to south, from east to west, we will see that each region has a different unique spirit. Undoubtedly, the pearls of Baku, which have become the apple of the eyes of the whole world are a combination of national moral values that are characteristic of all these regions. However, when it comes to the craft capital of the country, the first thing that comes to mind is the city of Sheki. The basis of this is the presence of historical and architectural monuments that attract attention with the unique methods of building the city, as well as the presence of areas where crafts from pottery to shebeke glass, from chain stitch to silk, from carpets, kilim to other woven and embroidered textiles have been created and continue to develop. The soul of each city is formed by the style and outlook of the people especially creative people who live in it. The spirit of Sheki can be seen as an example of a chain network formed by the psychology of local people to assemble, create together and share experiences. So, when you look at the city from a bird's eye view, many of the networked areas in the shape of block of squares attract attention. However, if we take a closer look at his creativities, will it be the desire to keep alive the four seasons inside the multi-colored mirrors that made in the form of a shebeke, or whether it is a delicate knots woven together like a net creates the kelaghayi traditional Azerbaijani women’s headgear, or whether the endless quadrilaterals come together in a net which resemble a cloth fiber inside halva the existence of similar patterns of textile embroidery can be perceived almost everywhere. The existence of these pearls of art working in a close harmony with each other and living today, undoubtedly led to the fact that the historical Silk Road passed through the city of Sheki. Therefore, considerable number of tangible and intangible treasures were concentrated in this region, nowadays it is a home of important heritage not only in country level, but in world perspective. Today, the inclusion of the historical center of Sheki and the Khan's Palace in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as well as the inclusion of carpets and other handicrafts, including kalaghayi, in the Representative List of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage allow us to say that Sheki is a world-renowned monument. Thus, in a city through where a stream of cultures has passed throughout history, the rich traces of the past are alive today and developing the creativity of future generations. Even without listing all the samples of craftsmanship, the mere existence of external architecture and internal craftsmanship of the Palace of Sheki Khans is enough to express the richness of Sheki culture. It is for this reason that AMITA proposes to hold the 21st ETN Conference and Exhibition in Sheki, as the handicraft capital of our country and the main city on the historical Silk Road, and we invite textile artists to be inspired by the impressive results of using weaving techniques in all areas of creativity, to share their vision with local artists for mutual development and of course considering ETN aims we invite to hold upcoming event in the city where spirit of networking alive.