Baku, May 7 (AZERTAC). Love Me, Love Me Not is an unprecedented exhibition of contemporary art from Azerbaijan and its neighbours, featuring recent work by 17 artists from Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Georgia. Produced and supported by YARAT, a not-for-profit contemporary art organization based in Baku, and curated by Dina Nasser-Khadivi, the exhibition will be open to the public from 1st June until 24th November, 2013 at Tesa 111, Arsenale Nord, at La Biennale di Venezia - 55th International Art Exhibition.

Faig Ahmed, Rashad Alakbarov, Rashad Babayev, Ali Hasanov, Orkhan Huseynov Sitara Ibrahimova, Aida Mahmudova and Farid Rasulov will represent Azerbaijan at the exhibition.

Other participants include Afruz Amighi, Shoja Azari, Mahmoud Bakhshi, Ali Banisadr and Farhad Moshir from Iran, Kutluğ Ataman from Turkey, Taus Makhacheva from Russia, Slavs and Tatars from `Eurasia`and Iliko Zautashvili from Georgia.

"There is currently equal curiosity and misconception about Azerbaijan and the countries surrounding it," explains curator Dina Nasser-Khadivi. "The works on show will provide insight into the dynamics of each nation, bringing to light forgotten aspects of history and demonstrating the breadth of vision and creativity at play within their borders."

The title of the show: Love Me, Love Me Not, relates to the vacillating relationships between the countries surrounding Azerbaijan, as well as the relationship between the artist and the viewers. It also references the work by the renowned collaborative Slavs and Tatars included in the show, of the same title.

Faig Ahmed takes the motifs found in Azerbaijani carpets as a starting point for his work, reinterpreting these to underline the rapid shift Azerbaijan is experiencing towards modernity. His thread installation Untitled (2012) deconstructs the notions of craft inherent to the traditional process of weaving, extending the usual two-dimensional plane of the finished carpet across a three-dimensional space. Kutluğ Ataman`s video installation Mesopotamian Dramaturgies / Column (2009) is inspired by the Trajan Column in Rome: a tower of 42 used TV screens each feature the silent face a villager from Erzincan in Eastern Turkey, Ataman`s place of origin. This key work is both an attempt to show a story without narration as well as a tribute to the history of Anatolian people, who he sees as silenced throughout history. In his most ambitious project to date, Shoja Azari will show a specially commissioned film which recreates the Haft Paykar, an allegorical romance, which takes self-knowledge as the essential path to human enlightenment as its central theme. Ali Banisadr will be producing his largest work to date for the exhibition, in the form of a triptych inspired by the pervasive symbolism of fire and light. These elements, prevalent in both Azerbaijan and Iran, relate to the origins of Zoroastrianism as well as the etymology of `Azerbaijan,` which derives from the Persian name for `Guardians of Fire`. Ali Hasanov uses a contemporary appropriation of everyday materials. His work Masters (2012) features hundreds of “veniki” (brooms made of bundled twig and common in post-Soviet countries) which are bound together to form a sculptural whole. Taus Makhacheva will re-produce a film, recently shown at the Liverpool Biennale about an abandoned silk-road city Gamsutl (2012) through a young male protagonist who “dances” to enact the fragmented qualities of the city, now half forgotten. Slavs & Tatars` installation entitled Molla Nasraddin- the Antimodernist (2011) is a life size sculpture as a playground “ride” for adults and children alike and refers to the popular Sufi philosopher of the 13th century. Molla Nasraddin also refers to the legendary Azerbaijani satirical periodical of the early 20th century, which not only contributed to a crucial understanding of national identity, but offered a momentous example of the powers of the press. In their installation Love Me, Love Me Not, the collaborative pluck the petals off the past to reveal an impossibly thorny stem: entire metropolises are caught like children in the spiteful back and forth of a custody battle, representing the evolution of the region over time - a theme which is at the core of this exhibition.

The catalogue edited by curator Dina Nasser-Khadivi and Farah Rahim Ismail and contributors to catalogue include Nada Raza, assistant curator at Tate Modern, Nicholas Cullinan, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Negar Azimi, writer and senior editor of Bidoun Projects, Monica Steinberg, PhD candidate, the Graduate Center, City University of New York, Suad Garayeva, writer and curator specializing in Contemporary Art from Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Slavs and Tatars, a faction of polemics and intimacies devoted to an area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known as Eurasia. The collective`s work spans several media, disciplines, and a broad spectrum of cultural registers (high and low) focusing on an oft-forgotten sphere of influence between Slavs, Caucasians and Central Asians.

Love Me, Love Me Not is produced by YARAT contemporary art organization, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and nurturing of contemporary art in Azerbaijan.

Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally.

Based in Baku, YARAT, (which means CREATE in Azerbaijani) realizes its mission through an ongoing program of exhibitions, education events, and festivals. YARAT facilitates dialogue and exchange between local and international artistic networks, including foundations, galleries and museums. A series of residencies further fosters opportunities for global cultural dialogue and partnerships.

YARAT`s educational initiatives include lectures, seminars, master classes, and the Young Artist Project ARTIM (meaning PROGRESS in Azerbaijani). ARTIM aims to encourage the next generation of Azerbaijani creative talent to seek a career in the arts and gives young practitioners the opportunity to exhibit their works in a professional context.

Founded as part of YARAT`s ongoing commitment to growing local art infrastructure, YAY Gallery is a commercial exhibition space. In line with this, YAY (meaning SHARE in Azerbaijani) shares all proceeds from sales between the artist and YARAT and supports a range of national and international artists.