Azerbaijan State Museum of Ashug Art

Azerbaijan Ashug Art Museum – a museum located in the Tovuz district of Azerbaijan dedicated to Azerbaijani ashug art. The museum also bears the name of Ashug Huseyn Bozalqanli.

History

The museum was established in 1984 as a poet‑ashug museum. On 22 March 1990, based on decision No. 116 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the museum received state status and was given the name Huseyn Bozalqanli.

In 2013, by decree No. 374 of the Cabinet of Ministers, construction of a new museum building began. The construction of the new museum building was completed in the second half of 2019. The museum opened on 4 March 2020. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan participated in the opening ceremony. In 2021, the museum had 1,208 visitors and organized 52 excursions.

Features

The museum is the only museum in the world devoted to ashug art. The total area of the museum building is 3,100 m² and it has three floors. The museum includes a 40‑seat conference hall, fund rooms, a souvenir room and a library. In the museum courtyard, the composition “Art Ashugs” created by Fuad Mammadov has been installed.

The museum’s exhibition hall is located on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The history of ashug art is presented here in chronological order and by region. Halls 1–6 are dedicated to the history of ashug art, ashug repertoires, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and activities undertaken to preserve ashug art. Halls 7–10 concern the ashug environment: Hall 7 is devoted to the Goycha, Karabakh and Nakhchivan ashug environment, Hall 8 to the Ganja‑Basar ashug environment, Hall 9 to the Borchali and South Azerbaijan ashug environment, and Hall 10 to the Shirvan ashug environment. A saz circle operates in the museum.

On the first floor of the museum there are electronic information about the museum, a "Heydar Aliyev and ashik art" corner, and a bust of Hüseyn Bozalqanlı named after the museum. The museum's collection includes 2111 exhibits. One of the exhibits is the ashik composition "Üçlük".