Modern art baku concept | Branding

Modern art "museum baku"

YARAT Contemporary Art Space the not-for-profit contemporary art organisation, opened a new centre for contemporary art in March 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan. YARAT Contemporary Art Centre is the first permanent space for YARAT. It is housed in a converted Soviet-era naval building overlooking the Caspian Sea which acted as a maintenance base for navy ships in the 1960s.

The conversion has created a 2,000m2 exhibition space spread over two floors. The building will showcase temporary exhibitions by leading international artists, highlighting emerging movements and new commissions, as well as housing YARAT Collection displays and a new library. The auditorium provides a dedicated space for screenings, performances and YARAT’s

educational events.

An organic café completes the centre by providing a space for informal discussions and gatherings. The YARAT Contemporary Art Centre is conceived as a dedicated hub for

contemporary art and art education not only for Azerbaijan, but the wider region as a whole

Running across the entire first floor gallery space, 100 microphones are suspended above 100 metal rods, each piercing a page inscribed with a verse of poetry. In turn, a single microphone plays these verses, echoed by a chorus of the other 99. Lasting over an hour, the sound piece alternates between English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Azeri and Hindi, amongst other languages

A motion flapboard, typically found in transit zones and transport hubs to communicate timings and schedules, hangs from the ceiling. Subverting its intended function, Gupta replaces informational text with poetry which describes processes of arrival and departure, and the movement of people and ideas. As the split-flap display rotates, new words and prose appear, offering poignant and timely reflections which in turn lead us to question how we define identity through place and time.