Department of Ashiq Art

The Department of Ashiq Art was established in 2011. From 2011 to 2022, the department was headed by Honoured Cultural Worker, PhD in Art Studies, Associate Professor Ahliman Rahimov. Since 2022, the department has been led by Honoured Cultural Worker, PhD in Art Studies, Associate Professor Samira Aliyeva.

The department offers undergraduate and graduate-level education in Ashiq Art and contributes to the preservation, research, and promotion of Azerbaijani ashıq heritage. Faculty members have authored numerous monographs, textbooks, and teaching materials dedicated to regional ashıq traditions, performance practice, epic narration, and the relationship between ashıq art and theatre.

Major academic publications include:

• Shirvan Ashiq Melodies: Characteristics, Classification and Teaching Methodology (Ahliman Rahimov, Altay Mammadov, 2014) 
• The Performance Mastery of Shirvan Ashiqs (Ahliman Rahimov, 2016) 
• The Goycha Ashiq Environment (Nemat Gasimov, 2019) 
• The Poetics of Zodlu Usta Abdulla (Hafiz Karimov, 2015) 
• The Musical Creativity of Borchaly Ashiqs (Hafiz Karimov, 2019) 
• Forms of the Epic Genre in Azerbaijani Theatre Culture (Fazail Orujov, 2005) 
• Ashiq Art and Theatre (Fazail Orujov, 2017) 
• Epic Performance as a One-Actor Theatre (Samira Aliyeva) 

Since the 2016–2017 academic year, the department has also offered the course Specialization – Music Notation Performance. In this context, Hafiz Karimov’s нотated collection Works of Azerbaijani Composers (Arrangements and Adaptations for Saz and Piano) (2021) is of particular importance.

Faculty members and students regularly participate in international conferences, festivals, and UNESCO-related cultural projects, representing Azerbaijani Ashiq Art in France, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The department’s academic and artistic activities have been recognized with various national and international awards.