June, 2019 | Ünvanımız Azərbaycandır
"There were many unforgettable moments in my life. I always remember the day I met our national leader Heydar Aliyev. The mother-of-pearl tar I gave her is now kept in the Louvre museum in France. What could be greater happiness than this?"
Over the centuries, creative people have left interesting traces in history. Because every artist lives in his work of art and becomes history over time. Balabay Balabayov, whom we would like to talk about, is one of our artists.
The wonderful works of art created by him stand out for their beauty, elegance and uniqueness. Although the owner of these golden hands, which arouses interest and amazement, is a very simple and humble person in life, it is difficult for you to say a word in front of the greatness of his craftsmanship. The embroidered figures he made with great patience and mastery, the portraits of geniuses decorated with mother-of-pearl, the paintings reflecting our national arts, the separate plots he created from precious stones on musical instruments seem to enchant a person. You can't tear your eyes away from these fine patterns and ornate ornaments even for a moment. Think that those who said "Man creates great miracles" were not mistaken in their opinion.
Balabay Balabayov was born in 1966 in the Balakhani settlement of Baku in the family of an artist. His father, teacher Mirzabay, taught labor training at secondary school No. 204 in the settlement, and was engaged in carpentry and supported his family with his halal labor. Balabay, who was used to hard work since childhood, learned the secrets and intricacies of art from his father. But his interest in art leads him to another field.
Since 1984, he has been engaged in the development, repair and artistic design of musical instruments. Master Balabay, who has gained experience in this art, which requires a lot of hard work and patience, for more than 35 years is the highlight of his art.
His familiarity with the technical requirements of the musical instruments he made from wood, his ability to handle them with pleasure, precious metal, gems and mother-of-pearl is the main aspect that distinguishes him from his colleagues. He considers himself happy in life because he tied his fate to this art. "My father was also a master, and I learned to make pearls myself. The musical instruments I created went to Germany, Turkiye, Denmark, Switzerland, Iran, India and other countries." Despite the fact that the master has no painting education, Balabay works with metals such as gold, silver, white and black diamonds, precious natural stones such as ruby, and different colored mother-of-pearl, creating compositions with various plots in the texture of wood materials.
In the described plots, the main burden is the mother-of-pearl, not a single decorative element for the craftsman. The most interesting thing is that the master used its color shades like a painter, creating professional-level landscapes, human and animal movements on wood with complex color transitions. According to Usta Balabay, each of the pearls brought from different countries has its own color. The presence of red, yellow, pink, green, blue, purple, pink, white and black tones of mother-of-pearl, mainly imported from natural raw material centers such as Spain, China, and India, enables harmony in the creation of images with complex and lyrical plots.
It should also be noted that the Balabay master widely uses the khatamkar style in the artistic design of musical instruments along with the numerous technical methods used by the masters of that time, which have been known since ancient times in Azerbaijan. One of the most difficult and interesting areas of this art is writing and painting with precious metals on the object. The Khatamkar method is reminiscent of the mosaic technique, which is a kind of architectural decoration with small colored stones and ceramics.
This technology, applied to musical instruments created in Azerbaijan for centuries, was of no less importance in making the instruments more outstanding from the aesthetic point of view, and at the same time in choosing the instruments belonging to famous musicians.
Khatamkar method, which is an ancient art of Azerbaijan, has not lost its importance in modern times and is practiced by folk artists of different regions.
The manifestation of the artistic and technical possibilities of Khatamkar in musical instruments is considered to be one of the most successful and long-lasting technical tools used in artistic wood carving.
In modern times, Balabay Balabayov, who regularly works with this technique and is distinguished by the complexity of his individual style, can be considered one of our artists who raised national musical instruments to the highest heights as true works of art.
The fame of Balabay Balabayov's art has long crossed the borders of Azerbaijan. His unique works of art have been exhibited in many world museums. He was awarded a special diploma of the "Folk Creativity" competition held in Baku in 2000 for the piece with mother-of-pearl he completed in 1999. Episodes from "Kitabi-Dada-Gorgud" are described in the bowl part of this saz we are talking about. Another image depicts the struggle of Karaca Choba, who fought alone against the army of Kipchak Mali. The shepherd managed to chase away the enemy by crushing the sheep and goats due to the lack of stones around him on the top of the mountain. The song depicting the meeting of the sad Burla khatu with her fiance Beyrak, whom she did not recognize, is written in a lyrical mood.
In 2005, he created the tari, another stringed musical instrument, which the artist gave a magnificent artistic arrangement in the technique of khatamkar. Gold, silver, white and black diamonds and rubies were used on the tar along with mother-of-pearl of various colors. Of course, with this, the artist has managed to demonstrate richer possibilities and high professionalism in terms of diversity.
Plots from "Khamsa" by the classical Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi are depicted on the tar. The episodes reflected in the musical instrument (nine of which are in the bowl and one in the arm part) show that Balabay is deeply familiar with the artistic talent of the master and the intricacies of the art that he has brought to life. "Epic of the bricklayer", "Leyli and Majnu's meeting in the desert", "Anushiravan shah and the conversation of the owls", "Khosrov and Shirin" and other interesting plots are described in the bowl section. In this handmade work, the handwriting typical of the Middle Ages Eastern miniatures seems to have come to life again on the wood.
Master Balabay recreated two episodes from the poem "Khosrov and Shirin" on the right side of the tar. This time, the scene of "Khosrov watching Shirin while bathing" has found its interesting artistic solution in the wood carving technique. In the scene of "Shirin going to Bisutun Mountain to Farhadan", the talented artist realized a small plot in the poem within the possibilities of the artist's imagination. Here, the legendary hero Farhad climbs the steep cliffs of Bisutun mountain with his ash in his hand on his head.
According to the shape of each instrument Balabay works on, the master adjusts the simple figures and patterns with each other with such taste that as a result, compositions characteristic for our national ornament art are created. The most interesting aspect of the separate plots he created on musical instruments is the accurate description of their different, external appearance, which comes from art and the variety of art, along with the expression style of people.
Whatever subject Balabay Balabayov turns to, the greatness, uniqueness and elegance of his art can be felt at first sight. Master Balabay's skillful use of the possibilities of Khatamkar technique, enthusiastic execution of national pattern elements confirm once again that he is an inimitable artist with an individual style.
The "Flame Towers", which have become a symbol of Baku, have preserved their magnificence even in the handiwork of Balabay master. The composition "Girl's Castle" is the product of a very well-thought-out idea. The artist used a pen with a sign of intellectuality to complete the composition, which combines the ancient and unknown "Maiden's Castle" and the logo of modern European games on a table. The most important thing is that here Balabay showed Ilham Aliyev, who wrote the latest history of independent Azerbaijan with his own handwriting, in his unique form and with his signature. In addition to being a master artist, Balabey is also a wonderful family man, a simple, humble and sincere person. With the unique art pieces he creates, he takes people away from all their worries even for a moment and gives them a pleasant feeling.
We wish Balabay Balabayov a long life, good health and new creative successes.