BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 23. Baku came alive with poetry, art, and reflection as the Heydar Aliyev Center hosted the opening of the “Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Art, and Spirituality,” bringing together thinkers, artists, and researchers from around the world, Trend reports..
Organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture with support from the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), the festival was designed not only as a cultural event but also as a bridge connecting eras and civilizations.
The international forum opening the festival, themed “In Search of Eternal Truth,” gathered more than 70 scholars and experts from countries including Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Canada, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Oman, and Tajikistan. Participants explored the enduring relevance of Imadaddin Nasimi, the poet, philosopher, and mystic whose ideas continue to resonate today.
The festival aims to examine themes of humanism, love, and tolerance through diverse forms of artistic expression, fostering dialogue between cultures and generations. It serves as a platform linking contemporary art with Nasimi’s profound literary legacy, creating a dynamic connection between tradition and modernity. Four intensive panel sessions highlighted different facets of Nasimi’s work and significance.
The session titled “Nasimi in the Struggle for Free Will and Universal Ideals” covered topics such as:
- “Eternal Calls: Changing Eras and Nasimi’s Parallels Across Cultures”;
- “The Philosophy of Love and Passion in the Poetry of Seyyed Imadaddin Nasimi and Muhammad Iqbal”;
- “The Concept of the Perfect Human in Nasimi’s Works”;
- “Unveiling the Mystical World of Nasimi.”
Another session, “Nasimi in Museums: Perspectives from Past and Contemporary Art,” addressed his influence on the various arts, with topics such as:
- “Nasimi’s Philosophy in Visual Arts”;
- “Azerbaijan at the Turn of the XIV and XV Centuries”;
- “Sufism and the Life of Dervishes”;
- “The Role of Mausoleums in Turkish Museology.”
The next panel of the international forum, titled “Nasimi’s Influence on the Poetry and Philosophical Thought of the Muslim East,” brought together scholars to present research on themes such as:
- “The World of Images in Nasimi’s Turkish Divan through the Lens of Classical Poetry”;
- “Nasimi in Iraqi-Turkmen Literature: A Bibliographic Study”;
- “Distinctive Features of the Poetics of Imadeddin Nasimi’s Ghazals in Persian”;
- “Nasimi and Uzbek Literature”;
-“Publications of Nasimi’s Divans in Iran: A Comparative Analysis.”
The final session, “Nasimi and the Pinnacle of the Azerbaijani Literary Language: Poetic Heritage and Geography of Manuscripts,” focused on the following subjects:
- “The Oldest Lost Manuscript of Nasimi’s Divan and Other Ancient Copies”;
- “Nasimi’s Role in the Formation of the Azerbaijani Literary Language and His Treatise Tarigatname”;
- “Traces of Nasimi in Foreign Sources of Comparative Literature”;
-“Dialectal Characteristics of Nasimi’s Divan.”
The festival, held since 2018, has become a tradition and an important cultural platform designed to unite generations and cultures, promote dialogue, and reveal the rich heritage of the great thinker and poet Imadeddin Nasimi through the prism of contemporary art. This year, from September 23 through 25, Baku and Shamakhi will be the centers of a rich program dedicated to studying the poet's philosophical and literary heritage, as well as a wide range of events in the fields of literature, theater, and music.
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