This is a story of three men – a tailor, a barber and a coppersmith, old Soviet-type entrepreneurs who are adapting to new environments and are trying to survive in a new world. They have come from different regions of Azerbaijan in order to settle in Baku and make a living. Their careers have seen happy and turbulent times, changes in trends, and how the city has become what is it is now.
authors
Sheyda Allahverdiyeva
Born in 1989, in Azerbaijan, Sheyda studied Cultural Science and later did her MBA in International Business at ADA University and Maastricht School of Management. From teaching English literature and creative writing in the Middle East to developing IT and filmmaking courses for children, Sheyda’s career has revolved around the field of education. Apart from her full-time job as a marketing specialist in an educational project, Sheyda is a freelance photographer and writer. She is passionate about traveling, cultures, and languages and enjoys bringing light to ordinary life scenes by showing them from unusual perspectives.
Author's stories
Soviet-Type Entrepreneurs in a New World
My parents are risk-averse people. Born and educated in Soviet Azerbaijan, they know little about what capitalism is and how the system works. Yet in 2007, they resolved to make a big jump and invest all the family’s savings to buy a new apartment. Their decision was driven by trust as the apartment they were eyeing was in the building that friends of ours owned. After months of nervousness, they signed the contract in August 2007.
A New Apartment – A New Problem?
It sounds improbable. A genre that originated in the United States with deep roots in Africa’s musical tradition, jazz has rarely been associated with Azerbaijan. Yet a fusion of traditional American jazz and folk music has a longstanding history in the Caucasus nation and it has become part of the national culture.
Jazz, The Music of Freedom Surviving the USSR
An Azerbaijani saying has it that “a man is not a man without his papaq” - without his hat that is. In Azerbaijan the papaq - traditionally made of lamb or karakul’s fur - is not simply just headgear, but rather a symbol of honor and dignity, though in the digital age the traditional hat has slowly lost its significance. And so the craft of making them has been fading.
The Last Papaqchi in Sheki
They were meant for escape from Baku’s sizzling summer days, when high humidity and powerful winds can cover the skin with a gritty, wet film. Like dachas in Russia, a bağ evi (literally, “garden house”) near the Caspian Sea used to be the way for Azerbaijanis to get away from it all.
Absheron’s Bağ Evi: Looking for a Lost Cottage
In her earliest memories, Afarda Rasulova is lounging on colorful kilims and cushy pillows in the family’s living room and reading aloud to her mother.
My Grandmother: Breaking Barriers in Shaki
They are mothers, sisters, wives -- or, at least, this is how they perceive themselves. When asked to identify themselves, women in Azerbaijan tend to respond with roles that society traditionally attaches to their gender. Men, on the other hand, don’t.
The Multifaceted Identities of Azerbaijani Men and Women
In recent years car tuning, or modifying vehicles to personal taste, has become increasingly popular in Azerbaijan.