The Culture Trip:
The Eight Most Influential Women in Central Asian and Caucasian Art

The Culture Trip, the world’s leading website that offers a perspective on art and culture has named the most influential women in the cultural field from Central Asia and Caucasian region. The name of Aida Mahmudova, the founder and director of YARAT Contemporary Art Space appears on this list.

Since 2005, the world’s largest contemporary art event, the Venice Biennale, has welcomed a Central Asian pavilion. Despite the success of these exhibitions, Central Asia’s art and artists remain relatively unknown even among art lovers, a situation exacerbated by a lack of governmental support for cultural projects. These eight women, be they artists, collectors, curators or academics, are among the most influential in developing the exciting art scenes of the former Soviet states.

Not content with being a prominent artist, 32-year-old Aida Mahmudova is also one of Azerbaijan’s most important contemporary art movers and shakers. In 2011 she foundedYARAT, the country’s best-known non-profit art space, the aim of which, says Mahmudova, is to support Azeri artists and to identify international platforms with which these artists can work. Master classes, UK-Azerbaijan exchange programmes, solo and group exhibitions all contribute to the development of the country’s art scene.

Since her first European solo show in 2013, Mahmudova herself has continued to make work that meshes various media, reflecting on modern Azerbaijan through a wash of nostalgia. As the niece of the current First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mahmudova splits her time between Baku and London, sparking connections between Central Asia and the international commercial art scene.