The article recounts the author's experience attending Baku Art Weekend in Azerbaijan, a festival centered at the Zaha Hadid-designed Heydar Aliyev Centre. The event featured a major exhibition of Fernando Botero's work, "The Triumph of Form," alongside kinetic installations by Daniel Wurtzel and sculptures by Jorge Marín. The festival is shaped by Leyla Aliyeva, vice president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and daughter of Azerbaijan's president, who aims to position Baku as a global cultural capital.
This matters because Baku Art Weekend represents Azerbaijan's strategic effort to define its cultural identity at the crossroads of Turkic, Russian, Islamic, and secular influences, using contemporary art to bridge tradition and modernity. The festival's high-profile international collaborations and ambitious programming signal the country's push to become a significant player on the global arts stage, while also raising questions about the intersection of art, soft power, and political leadership in a rapidly modernizing nation.