On April 14th, 2026, just before World Art Day, the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum in Baku opened its doors to “In the After Image,” a solo exhibition by Medina, the official artist of the .ART Registry. The timing was no coincidence: a day dedicated to celebrating the power of art became the stage for an exhibition that asks what happens when a single image travels across painting, carpet, stained glass, mosaic, digital media, sound, and scent.

The opening night drew a packed house. Among the guests were Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva, Saadat Yusifova, Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan, and H.E. Houssam-Eldine Redan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Azerbaijan, alongside museum officials, curators, diplomats, artists, and members of the press.

A Full House and High-Level Recognition

Museum Director Amina Melikova, PhD in Art Studies, opened the evening by placing the exhibition in the context of the museum’s mission. “The exhibition showcases 28 works created over the past five years,” she noted. “Five new carpets woven from the artist’s sketches form an important part. These works demonstrate how contemporary imagery can be expressed through textiles, creating meaningful dialogue between traditional and modern art.”

Deputy Culture Minister Saadat Yusifova praised Medina’s creative trajectory:

“The exhibition reflects the artist’s rich creative energy. The Culture Ministry prioritizes supporting talented young artists at an international level. The artist’s distinctive visual language and bold approach make her innovative and noteworthy.”

Co-curator Vladimir Opredelenov described the work as “rooted in tradition and filtered through history while simultaneously uniting with modern technology” — a statement that captures the exhibition’s central tension and its resolution.

28 Works, Five Carpets, Four Senses

“In the After Image” brings together 28 works spanning oil and acrylic painting, mosaic, stained glass, digital media, and carpet. The exhibition traces how a single visual motif transforms as it moves between materials — how a brushstroke becomes a knot, how pigment becomes light through glass, how a canvas composition is reborn in woven textile.

At the heart of the show are five newly woven carpets, created by the master artisans of the museum’s Traditional Technology Department under the artistic direction of Taryer Bashirov, Honored Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Each carpet required over 200 custom-dyed color shades, with Medina’s painterly compositions translated into textile form through coded grid systems — knot by knot, line by line.

The exhibition extends beyond the visual. A commissioned sound installation transforms recordings of the carpet-making process into a rhythmic layer that fills the gallery space, turning the labor of craft into an immersive sonic experience. Two fragrances, created by the perfume brand Nose, add an olfactory dimension — making “In the After Image” one of the rare exhibitions that engages four senses simultaneously.

Recurring motifs — seasonal cycles, floral compositions, female and male figures, Baku cityscapes, and abstract forms — reappear across materials and techniques, shaping the exhibition’s internal rhythm. The same composition may first appear as a painting, then surface as a digital work, be refracted through stained glass, or translated into carpet — each iteration revealing something new about the original.

Into the Permanent Collection

In a significant moment for both the artist and the institution, four iterations of “Flowers for My Mother” — in oil painting, stained glass, carpet, and digital art — have entered the museum’s permanent collection. The acquisition underscores the project’s institutional and cultural significance, marking a contemporary artistic vision joining the long historical narrative preserved within the museum’s walls.

The Artist

Medina is a multidisciplinary artist working across oil painting, sculpture, stained glass, mosaics, and digital media. Her practice is rooted in a personal story of resilience — shaped by early experiences of illness and moments when communication was limited, she developed a visual language in which art becomes a central way of relating to the world.

As the official artist of the .ART Registry, Medina leads The Healing Power of Art, a philanthropic initiative exploring art’s role in emotional and psychological restoration. Her exhibition history spans the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow (2018), Times Square in New York, 567 digital billboards across Berlin during Art Week, Art Basel Miami and Hong Kong, the FATVillage Metaverse, and augmented reality exhibitions in Dublin, Seoul, Taipei, and Miami.

“In the After Image” is curated by Daria Kravchuk and Vladimir Opredelenov, organized by the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum with the support of the .ART domain registry.

Media Coverage

The exhibition opening was widely covered by Azerbaijani media:

  • Azertag (state news agency) — Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum to host “In the After-Image” solo exhibition by Medina
  • Azernews — Carpet Museum to open solo exhibition of multidisciplinary artist
  • Qafqazinfo — Leyla və Arzu Əliyevalar sərgidə
  • Media.az — В Национальном музее ковра открылась персональная выставка художницы Мадины Гасымовой
  • Oxu.az — Milli Xalça Muzeyində “Yaddaşa həkk olunan təsvir” sərgisinin açılışı olub
  • InNews.az — The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum to Host “In the After-Image” solo exhibition by Medina

Visiting

“In the After Image” is on view at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Baku, through May 15, 2026.

More at medina.art