An exhibition devoted to the Azerbaijani game chovken opens at UNESCO with organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation

On May 6, opening of the exhibition devoted to chovken - Azerbaijan’s horseback played game, which is entered on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection, and presentation of the book “The Garabagh Horse” by French writer Jean-Luis Gouraud took place at UNESCO, with organizational support the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijan’s permanent representative office under UNESCO.

The event took place at the headquarters of the organization within the framework of the Evening of European Museums to be held on May 16, 2015 at UNESCO.

Deputy Director General of UNESCO for cultural affairs Alfredo Perez thanked the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the permanent representative office of the Republic of Azerbaijan under UNESCO for the organization of the exhibition. A.Perez highly appreciated the role of the Republic of Azerbaijan in implementation of the UNESCO Convention on Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2003. 

The deputy director general appreciated the inclusion of chovken into the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection in 2013 as high attention of the Government of Azerbaijan towards preserving intangible heritage. 

Permanent representative of Azerbaijan at UNESCO Anar Karimov mentioned that this was the seventh time that he participated in the Evening of European Museums and said this time Azerbaijan was invited by UNESCO to the event as an important guest.

A.Karimov underscored chovken’s role in formation of uniqueness of Azerbaijanis and culture of our people. He mentioned that the ancient game chovken was referred to in works by Nizami, Dada Gorgud epos and records of famous travellers. The permanent representative said chovken was associated with horses of the Garabagh region and noted that breeding of these type of horses has become difficult due to the occupation of these territories. 

A.Karimov emphasized the support provided by Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva in popularizing the organization’s values and projects in various spheres, and underscored the role of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in holding of the exhibition. 

The head of the permanent representative office thanked author of “The Garabagh Horse” Jean-Luis Gouraud for the work. 

Jean-Luis Gouraud noted that chovken was played on the back of Garabagh horses and the facts that it was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage was a great success for Azerbaijan. The writer emphasized that the Garabagh horse was one of the world’s three pure-blooded horses.

At the end of the ceremony, the book “The Garabagh Horse” was distributed to permanent representatives accredited at UNESCO, representatives of the French public, and journalists.