CASPIA CONTEMPORARY GALLERY
WEST ASIAN ART COMES TO MAYFAIR If you’re looking to add something unique to your art collection, the impending opening of Caspia Contemporary Gallery in Mayfair this summer could present the perfect opportunity. Servanne Sohier spoke to the founders of the gallery.
© All images Courtesy of Caspia Contemporary Gallery
THE GALLERY IS THE RESULT OF A collaboration between two Azerbaijani friends - Afsana Tahirova and Elnara Shikhlinskaya - and curator Mara Alves. Tahirova worked on government-related projects in her home country before she moved to London to pursue a degree at the London Business School. Shikhlinskaya’s husband was also studying there, and the three remained firm friends. An artist herself, Shikhlinskaya previously worked as a doctor but found herself painting more frequently after the birth of her second son. When she returned to Azerbaijan on holiday, the two women discussed a shared desire to showcase
their homeland in London. Once their plans for the gallery were finalised, Tahirova moved back to London from Azerbaijan to start the operations. Soon afterwards Tahirova met Alves, who was just leaving a position as the curator and manager of a Mayfair gallery, and invited her to join the Caspia team. Alves, who graduated in fine arts and curatorial studies, began her career as an artist and ran a series of art studios in her home country Portugal before moving to London.
Caspian Sea
A series of private previews this March will introduce the new gallery that is bringing West
Asian art to London. It will feature a selection of artists carefully chosen for the way the region has influenced their paintings. “Our first exhibition presents the artistic treasures of the region surrounding the Caspian Sea,” explains Alves. “We have selected a small group of artists from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to bring to London to share their unique culture with this multicultural city.” The gallery aspires to share how the people of Western Asia see themselves: “What they dream of, what they imagine, how they think,” outlines Tahirova. “When you look at the paintings, you know he or she has used certain concepts that are
Jalal Aghayev, ‘The Amber’, Oil on canvas (2017), 73 x 131 cm
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