{"id":186,"date":"2021-01-09T19:29:02","date_gmt":"2021-01-09T19:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/museum-inside-out.com\/?page_id=186"},"modified":"2021-01-24T21:46:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T21:46:36","slug":"ashiq-arts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/museum-inside-out.com\/index.php\/ashiq-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashiq Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ashiq Arts as National Heritage<\/strong>
Sites related to the Azerbaijan state

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“The Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The art of the ashiqs, rooted in the mists of time, is syncretic. It combines several art forms: poetry, dance, drama, impromptu poetry and musical improvisation. Possessing such a variety of artistic skills and talent, ashiq captivates the audience with unique individuality and creates a complete artistic image which allows him to convey his thoughts and emotions through the music. In fact, performance of an ashiq is a spectacle of music, in which saz and the ashiq himself form a unity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cGozelleme\u201d, a poem dedicated to the appraisal of beauties, has a distinct place in the art of ashiqs. They are usually dedicated to the loved ones, beauties, and heroes. For example, the brave Koroghlu and his legendary horse Gyrat. Some ashiq songs express sorrow, sadness and melancholy (as in \u201cSad Kerem\u201d, \u201cDilgemi\u201d). Others carry the elements of dance, such as \u201cAfshari\u201d, \u201cShereli\u201d, and are fine examples of the ashiq art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ashiq music was an essential part of Azerbaijani wedding celebrations. Often their songs were accompanied by the balaban (small wind instrument resembling zurna) and wind ensembles, but the main musical instrument of the ashiq music is saz (ancient musical instrument of Azerbaijan). In ancient times ashiqs were called \u201cOzan\u201d, \u201cVarsag\u201d, \u201cDede\u201d.  The history of the ashiq music has reached us through epics, legends, and songs of the ashiqs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ashiq art and mugham are the two important foundations of the musical culture of Azerbaijan. The art of ashiqs has its origin deep in the national culture and has bright characteristics, as well as a variety of themes and structural framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Not only is the art of ashiqs an illustration of a distinct poetic thought, but it also carries wisdom, centuries-old experiences and culture. It bears richness and a variety of speech styles, represents simplicity, beauty and poetic features of the national language, and a unique emotional range. Ashiqs produced a rich variety of poems. Ashiq is the main lyrical hero and the main person in the art of ashiqs. He has a talent to compose verses instantly. Ashiq art embraces literary expression and with this it creates a bridge between oral, written and folk literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Many genres of Azerbaijani national poetry developed through the art of ashiqs. Among them are found qoshma, mukhammas, garayli, qifilband (carries a riddle or a question), ustadnama (which contains songs of moral and instructive character), tajnis,  vujudnama (reflects major events in a person\u2019s life from the moment of his\/her birth), and others. These genres can also be part of dastan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common verse in ashiq poems is syllable and the structure of poem used in ashiq songs is quatrain verses.  Each verse starts with an instrumental into and verses are separated by instrumental solos. \u201cKitabi-Dede Gorgud\u201d, a folk epic which dates back to VII century, is the oldest among epic works dedicated to life, love and heroism of ancient ozans. Folk music had a great influence on the work of national composers. For the first time some elements of the ashiq music were used by Uzeyir Hajibeyli in his \u201cKoroghlu\u201d opera, as well as by Gara Garayev who combined technical means of contemporary music with ashiq music in the second part of the Third Symphony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are over 80 geographical types of ashiq melodies (\u201cKarami\u201d, \u201cAfshari\u201d, \u201cKurdu\u201d, \u201cDilgami\u201d, \u201cYanig Karami\u201d). The alignment between the poetic text and ashiq music has an important impact on their forms and rhythmic features. The main verse in ashiq melodies is syllable. The structure of the melodies is closely linked to the poetic form and the content of the syllable. Ashig Gurbani (XVI century), Ashig Abbas Tufarganli, Ashig Sarah (XVII century), Hasta Gasim, Ashig Valeh, Ashig Dilgam (XVIII century), Ashig Ali, Ashig Alasgar, Ashig Hussein Shamkirli (XIX century) and others, are considered classics of the ashig art. Among modern ashiq masters Ashig Hussein Bozalganli, Ashig Assad, Ashig Mirza, Ashig Islam, Ashig Shamshir, Huseyn Saradzhly, Gulmammadov Amrah, Hussein Javan, Ashig Kyamandar, Imran Hasanov, Azafly Mikail, Akbar Jafarov enjoy popularity. Ashiq music is widely spread in the regions of Azerbaijan \u2013 Gazakh, Tovuz, Shamakha, as well as in the historic regions Goycha and Borchali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 2009, \u201cThe Art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs\u201d was inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the 4th session of the Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ”
Source<\/a>

Azerbaijan-UNESCO Relations<\/a><\/strong>


Azerbaijan Ashiq Art – Heydar Aliev Center<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n





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On Ashiqs By Researchers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashiqs: Travelling Bards of Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Iran<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Stefan Williamson Fa<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sabah namaz\u0131n\u0131 H\u0259l\u0259f \u00f6z\u00fcnd\u0259.
G\u00fcnorta namaz\u0131n\u0131 Qars\u0131n d\u00fcz\u00fcnd\u0259.
Ax\u015fam namaz\u0131n\u0131 yar Tiflisind\u0259.
M\u00f6vlam qanad verdi u\u00e7dum da g\u0259ldim.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning Prayer in the heart of Aleppo
Midday Prayer in the plains of Kars
Evening Prayer in beloved Tbilisi
My Master gave me wings, I flew, and I came.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The music and poetry of ashiq bards extend across a wide geography which cannot be confined to the borders of modern nation states. The above stanza from the dastan epic \u201cA\u015f\u0131q Q\u0259rib\u201d demonstrates the inherently translocal nature of this tradition. The protagonist, after being estranged from his lover for seven years, miraculously travels, with the help of the Prophet Khidr, from Aleppo to Kars and on to his lover\u2019s home in Tbilisi\u2014three cities today situated in three different countries, Syria, Turkey, and Georgia. Ashiqs, in both their literary imagination and in actual practice, have long traversed this geography. Historically, these singer-poets filled the role of both entertainers and bearers of news travelling far and wide, often performing for different audiences in multiple languages. Even in recent history, during the period of hard political borders between Turkey, the Soviet Union, and Iran, the sounds of these bards crossed frontiers on radio waves and cassette tapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tradition of poet-bards spreads from the eastern edges of Central Asia to the Balkans and is not limited by ethnicity, language, or religion. The Caucasus, Anatolia, and Northwest Iran have long been an important centre for the development of bardic poetry and music. The Turkic name for bards in this area, ashiq, and its cognate ashough<\/a> in Armenian or ashoughi in Georgian, comes from the Arabic word \u0639\u0627\u0634\u0642, meaning lover or enamoured. Some say that the bard as lover refers to the idea that the musician must be inspired to write poetry and perform music. In some cases, this inspiration is said to have a metaphysical or divine origin, with some bards claiming to receive the skills and title of ashiq in their dreams. More commonly, the tradition is passed down generationally with new musicians learning from a young age in a family setting or through an apprenticeship similar to master-pupil relationships in other musical cultures. Throughout this region ashiqs are typically solo performers, accompanying themselves on the long-necked stringed instrument made of mulberry wood called the saz<\/a>, chongur, or qopuz, although some ashiqs may use bowed instruments<\/a> and, in other areas, ensembles <\/a>are also popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, teahouses <\/a>and weddings <\/a>served as the main performance venues for these musicians. In urban centres like Tabriz in Iran and Kars in Turkey, the teahouses close to the bus terminals and bazaars were well known as venues for ashiq performances, as villagers coming to these towns could stop off to listen to the ashiqs before returning home. These performances to this day are fairly informal affairs with people giving the musician tips for special requests; the ashiq will walk between the tables and chairs stopping to sing before friends, special guests, or for those making requests. Performances at weddings, though seasonal, are much more lucrative for musicians particularly since the disappearance of traditional teahouses. During the Soviet period, ashiq performance became more formalized  and institutionalized across the Caucasus with concerts being staged at theatres and recorded on TV and radio. The new political context not only led to changes in musical aesthetics but also to an increased number of female ashiqs<\/a> as performance spaces became less segregated.”
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