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rding to the 2009 population census 91.6 Azerbaijanis, 2.0 Lezgins, 1.4 Armenians almost all Armenians live in the breakaway region of NagornoKarabakh, 1.3 Russians, 1.3 Talysh, 0.6 Avars, 0.4 Turks, 0.3 Tatars, 0.3 Tats, 0.2 Ukrainians, 0.1 Tsakhurs, 0.1 Georgians, 0.1 Jews, 0.1 Kurds, other 0.2.
Languages
The official language is Azerbaijani, which is a Turkic language. Azerbaijani is spoken by approximately 92 of the population as a mother tongue. Russian and Armenian only in NagornoKarabakh are also spoken, and each are the mother tongue of around 1.5 of the population respectively. There are a dozen other minority languages spoken natively in the country. Avar, Budukh, Georgian, Juhuri, Khinalug, Kryts, Lezgin, Rutul, Talysh, Tat, Tsakhur, and Udi are all spoken by small minorities. Some of these language communities are very small and their numbers are decreasing. Armenian was the majority language in NagornoKarabakh with around 76 in 1989. After the first NagornoKarabakh war, the population is almost |
exclusively Armenian at around 95.
Religion
Azerbaijan is considered the most secular Muslimmajority country. Around 97 of the population are Muslims. 85 of the Muslims are Shia and 15 Sunni; the Republic of Azerbaijan has the secondhighest proportion of Shia Muslims of any country in the world. Other faiths are practised by the country's various ethnic groups. Under article 48 of its Constitution, Azerbaijan is a secular state and ensures religious freedom. In a 20062008 Gallup poll, only 21 of respondents from Azerbaijan stated that religion is an important part of their daily lives.
Of the nation's religious minorities, the estimated 280,000 Christians 3.1 are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic almost all Armenians live in the breakaway region of NagornoKarabakh. In 2003, there were 250 Roman Catholics. Other Christian denominations as of 2002 include Lutherans, Baptists and Molokans. There is also a small Protestant community. Azerbaijan also has an ancient Jewish population w |
ith a 2,000year history; Jewish organizations estimate that 12,000 Jews remain in Azerbaijan, which is home to the only Jewishmajority town outside of Israel and the United States. Azerbaijan also is home to members of the Bah, Hare Krishna and Jehovah's Witnesses communities, as well as adherents of the other religious communities. Some religious communities have been unofficially restricted from religious freedom. A U.S. State Department report on the matter mentions detention of members of certain Muslim and Christian groups, and many groups have difficulty registering with the SCWRA.
Education
A relatively high percentage of Azerbaijanis have obtained some form of higher education, most notably in scientific and technical subjects. In the Soviet era, literacy and average education levels rose dramatically from their very low starting point, despite two changes in the standard alphabet, from PersoArabic script to Latin in the 1920s and from Roman to Cyrillic in the 1930s. According to Soviet data, 100 pe |
rcent of males and females ages nine to fortynine were literate in 1970. According to the United Nations Development Program Report 2009, the literacy rate in Azerbaijan is 99.5 percent.
Since independence, one of the first laws that Azerbaijan's Parliament passed to disassociate itself from the Soviet Union was to adopt a modifiedLatin alphabet to replace Cyrillic. Other than that the Azerbaijani system has undergone little structural change. Initial alterations have included the reestablishment of religious education banned during the Soviet period and curriculum changes that have reemphasized the use of the Azerbaijani language and have eliminated ideological content. In addition to elementary schools, the education institutions include thousands of preschools, general secondary schools, and vocational schools, including specialized secondary schools and technical schools. Education through the ninth grade is compulsory.
Culture
The culture of Azerbaijan has developed as a result of many influences; tha |
t's why Azerbaijanis are, in many ways, bicultural. Today, national traditions are well preserved in the country despite Western influences, including globalized consumer culture. Some of the main elements of the Azerbaijani culture are music, literature, folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, cinematography and Novruz Bayram. The latter is derived from the traditional celebration of the New Year in the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism. Novruz is a family holiday.
The profile of Azerbaijan's population consists, as stated above, of Azerbaijanis, as well as other nationalities or ethnic groups, compactly living in various areas of the country. Azerbaijani national and traditional dresses are the Chokha and Papakhi. There are radio broadcasts in Russian, Georgian, Kurdish, Lezgian and Talysh languages, which are financed from the state budget. Some local radio stations in Balakan and Khachmaz organize broadcasts in Avar and Tat. In Baku several newspapers are published in Russian, Kurdish Dengi |
Kurd, Lezgian Samur and Talysh languages. Jewish society "Sokhnut" publishes the newspaper Aziz.
Music and folk dances
Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly a thousand years. For centuries Azerbaijani music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies. Azerbaijani music has a branchy mode system, where chromatization of major and minor scales is of great importance. Among national musical instruments there are 14 string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments. According to The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion the Azerbaijani are musically much closer to Iran than Turkey."
Mugham, meykhana and ashiq art are among the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is usually a suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. When performing mugham, the singers have to transform their emotions into singing and music. In contrast to the mugham traditions of Central Asian |
countries, Azerbaijani mugham is more freeform and less rigid; it is often compared to the improvised field of jazz. UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani mugham tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. Meykhana is a kind of traditional Azerbaijani distinctive folk unaccompanied song, usually performed by several people improvising on a particular subject.
Ashiq combines poetry, storytelling, dance, and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art that stands as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture. It is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard who sings and plays the saz. This tradition has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples. Ashiqs' songs are semiimprovised around common bases. Azerbaijan's ashiq art was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO on 30 September 2009.
Since the mid1960s, Westerninfluenced Azerbaijani pop music, in its various forms, that has been growing in popularity in Azerba |
ijan, while genres such as rock and hip hop are widely produced and enjoyed. Azerbaijani pop and Azerbaijani folk music arose with the international popularity of performers like Alim Qasimov, Rashid Behbudov, Vagif Mustafazadeh, Muslim Magomayev, Shovkat Alakbarova and Rubaba Muradova. Azerbaijan is an enthusiastic participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. Azerbaijan made its debut appearance at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The country's entry gained third place in 2009 and fifth the following year. Ell and Nikki won the first place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared", entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in 2012, in Baku. They have qualified for every Grand Final up until the 2018 edition of the contest, entering with X My Heart by singer Aisel.
There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They are performed at formal celebrations and the dancers wear national clothes like the Chokha, which is wellpreserved within the national dances. Most dances have a very fast r |
hythm.
Literature
Among the medieval authors born within the territorial limits of modern Azerbaijani Republic was Persian poet and philosopher Nizami, called Ganjavi after his place of birth, Ganja, who was the author of the Khamseh "The Quintuplet", composed of five romantic poems, including "The Treasure of Mysteries," "Khosrow and Shrn," and "Leyli and Mejnn."
The earliest known figure in Azerbaijani literature was Izzeddin Hasanoglu, who composed a divan consisting of Persian and Turkic ghazals. In Persian ghazals he used his penname, while his Turkic ghazals were composed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.
Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in the 14th century based on the various Early Middle Ages dialects of Tabriz and Shirvan. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi penname of Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu, and Habibi. The end of the 14th century was also the period of starting literary activity of Imadaddin Nasimi, one of the greatest Turkic Hurufi mystical poets of the |
late 14th and early 15th centuries and one of the most prominent early divan masters in Turkic literary history, who also composed poetry in Persian and Arabic. The divan and ghazal styles were further developed by poets Qaseme Anvar, Fuzuli and Khatai penname of Safavid Shah Ismail I.
The Book of Dede Korkut consists of two manuscripts copied in the 16th century, and was not written earlier than the 15th century. It is a collection of 12 stories reflecting the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads. The 16thcentury poet, Muhammed Fuzuli produced his timeless philosophical and lyrical Qazals in Arabic, Persian, and Azerbaijani. Benefiting immensely from the fine literary traditions of his environment, and building upon the legacy of his predecessors, Fuzuli was destined to become the leading literary figure of his society. His major works include The Divan of Ghazals and The Qasidas. In the same century, Azerbaijani literature further flourished with the development of Ashik poetic genre of bards. During the same p |
eriod, under the penname of Khat for sinner Shah Ismail I wrote about 1400 verses in Azerbaijani, which were later published as his Divan. A unique literary style known as qoshma for improvisation was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp I.
In the span of the 17th and 18th centuries, Fuzuli's unique genres as well Ashik poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani, Agha Mesih Shirvani, Nishat, Molla Vali Vidadi, Molla Panah Vagif, Amani, Zafar and others. Along with Turks, Turkmens and Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis also celebrate the Epic of Koroglu from for blind man's son, a legendary folk hero. Several documented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the Institute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.
Modern Azerbaijani literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvani dialect mainly, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Akinc |
hi was published in 1875. In the mid19th century, it was taught in the schools of Baku, Ganja, Shaki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Since 1845, it was also taught in the University of Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Folk art
Azerbaijanis have a rich and distinctive culture, a major part of which is decorative and applied art. This art form is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, such as chasing, jeweling, engraving in metal, carving in wood, stone, bone, carpetmaking, lasing, pattern weaving and printing, and knitting and embroidery. Each of these types of decorative art, evidence of the endowments of the Azerbaijan nation, is very much in favor here. Many interesting facts pertaining to the development of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by numerous merchants, travelers, and diplomats who had visited these places at different times.
The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes, with a dense texture and a pile or pileless surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azer |
baijan's many carpetmaking regions. In November 2010 the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO.
Azerbaijan has been since ancient times known as a center of a large variety of crafts. The archeological dig on the territory of Azerbaijan testifies to the welldeveloped agriculture, stock raising, metalworking, pottery, ceramics, and carpetweaving that date as far back as to the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological sites in Dashbulaq, Hasansu, Zayamchai, and Tovuzchai uncovered from the BTC pipeline have revealed early Iron Age artifacts.
Azerbaijani carpets can be categorized under several large groups and a multitude of subgroups. Scientific research of the Azerbaijani carpet is connected with the name of Latif Karimov, a prominent scientist and artist. It was his classification that related the four large groups of carpets with the four geographical zones of Azerbaijan, GubaShirvan, GanjaKazakh, Karabakh and Tabriz.
Cuisine
The traditional cuisine is famous for an ab |
undance of vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, cilantro coriander, dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress, are very popular and often accompany main dishes on the table. Climatic diversity and fertility of the land are reflected in the national dishes, which are based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat mainly mutton and beef, and an abundance of seasonal vegetables and greens. Saffronrice plov is the flagship food in Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage. Azerbaijanis often use traditional armudu pearshaped glass as they have very strong tea culture. Popular traditional dishes include bozbash lamb soup that exists in several regional varieties with the addition of different vegetables, qutab fried turnover with a filling of greens or minced meat and dushbara sort of dumplings of dough filled with ground meat and flavor.
Architecture
Azerbaijani architecture typically combines elements of East |
and West. Azerbaijani architecture has heavy influences from Persian architecture. Many ancient architectural treasures such as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azerbaijan. Entries submitted on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list include the Ateshgah of Baku, Momine Khatun Mausoleum, Hirkan National Park, Binagadi asphalt lake, Lkbatan Mud Volcano, Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve, Baku Stage Mountain, Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions, Ordubad National Reserve and the Palace of Shaki Khans.
Among other architectural treasures are Quadrangular Castle in Mardakan, Parigala in Yukhary Chardaglar, a number of bridges spanning the Aras River, and several mausoleums. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, little monumental architecture was created, but distinctive residences were built in Baku and elsewhere. Among the most recent architectural monuments, the Baku subways are noted for their lavish decor.
The task for modern Aze |
rbaijani architecture is diverse application of modern aesthetics, the search for an architect's own artistic style and inclusion of the existing historicocultural environment. Major projects such as Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Flame Towers, Baku Crystal Hall, Baku White City and SOCAR Tower have transformed the country's skyline and promotes its contemporary identity.
Visual art
The Gamigaya Petroglyphs, which date back to the 1st to 4th millennium BC, are located in Azerbaijan's Ordubad District. They consist of some 1500 dislodged and carved rock paintings with images of deer, goats, bulls, dogs, snakes, birds, fantastic beings, and people, carriages, and various symbols were found on basalt rocks. Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl was convinced that people from the area went to Scandinavia in about 100 AD, took their boat building skills with them, and transmuted them into the Viking boats in Northern Europe.
Over the centuries, Azerbaijani art has gone through many stylistic chan |
ges. Azerbaijani painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of Azim Azimzade and Bahruz Kangarli, and a preoccupation with religious figures and cultural motifs. Azerbaijani painting enjoyed preeminence in Caucasus for hundreds of years, from the Romanesque and Ottoman periods, and through the Soviet and Baroque periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Azerbaijan. Other notable artists who fall within these periods include Sattar Bahlulzade, Togrul Narimanbekov, Tahir Salahov, Alakbar Rezaguliyev, Mirza Gadim Iravani, Mikayil Abdullayev and Boyukagha Mirzazade.
Cinema
The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography. Therefore, it is not surprising that this apparatus soon showed up in Baku at the start of the 20th century, this bay town on the Caspian was producing more than 50 percent of the world's supply of oil. Just like today, the oil industry attracted for |
eigners eager to invest and to work. In 1919, during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a documentary The Celebration of the Anniversary of Azerbaijani Independence was filmed on the first anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence from Russia, 27 May, and premiered in June 1919 at several theatres in Baku. After the Soviet power was established in 1920, Nariman Narimanov, Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbaijan, signed a decree nationalizing Azerbaijan's cinema. This also influenced the creation of Azerbaijani animation.
In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival EastWest was held in Baku. In December 2000, the former President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, signed a decree proclaiming 2 August to be the professional holiday of filmmakers of Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijani filmmakers are again dealing with issues similar to those faced by cinematographers prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1920. Once again, bot |
h choices of content and sponsorship of films are largely left up to the initiative of the filmmaker.
Television
There are three stateowned television channels AzTV, Idman TV and Medeniyyet TV. There is one public channel and 6 private channels ctimai Television, Space TV, Lider TV, Azad Azerbaijan TV, Xazar TV, Real TV and ARB.
Human rights in Azerbaijan
The Constitution of Azerbaijan claims to guarantee freedom of speech, but this is denied in practice. After several years of decline in press and media freedom, in 2014, the media environment in Azerbaijan deteriorated rapidly under a governmental campaign to silence any opposition and criticism, even while the country led the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe MayNovember 2014. Spurious legal charges and impunity in violence against journalists have remained the norm. All foreign broadcasts are banned in the country.
According to the 2013 Freedom House Freedom of the Press report, Azerbaijan's press freedom status is "not free," and Azerba |
ijan ranks 177th out of 196 countries.
Christianity is officially recognized. All religious communities are required to register to be allowed to meet, under the risk of imprisonment. This registration is often denied. "Racial discrimination contributes to the countrys lack of religious freedom, since many of the Christians are ethnic Armenian or Russian, rather than Azeri Muslim."
Radio Free EuropeRadio Liberty and Voice of America are banned in Azerbaijan. Discrimination against LGBT people in Azerbaijan is widespread.
During the last few years, three journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations. Azerbaijan had the biggest number of journalists imprisoned in Europe in 2015, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and is the 5th most censored country in the world, ahead of Iran and China. Some critical journalists have been arrested for their coverage of the COVID19 pandemic in Azerbaijan.
A report by an Amnesty Intern |
ational researcher in October 2015 points to '...the severe deterioration of human rights in Azerbaijan over the past few years. Sadly Azerbaijan has been allowed to get away with unprecedented levels of repression and in the process almost wipe out its civil society'. Amnesty's 201516 annual report on the country stated ' ... persecution of political dissent continued. Human rights organizations remained unable to resume their work. At least 18 prisoners of conscience remained in detention at the end of the year. Reprisals against independent journalists and activists persisted both in the country and abroad, while their family members also faced harassment and arrests. International human rights monitors were barred and expelled from the country. Reports of torture and other illtreatment persisted.
The Guardian reported in April 2017 that "Azerbaijan's ruling elite operated a secret 2.9bn 2.2bn scheme to pay prominent Europeans, buy luxury goods and launder money through a network of opaque British compani |
es .... Leaked data shows that the Azerbaijani leadership, accused of serial human rights abuses, systemic corruption and rigging elections, made more than 16,000 covert payments from 2012 to 2014. Some of this money went to politicians and journalists, as part of an international lobbying operation to deflect criticism of Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, and to promote a positive image of his oilrich country." There was no suggestion that all recipients were aware of the source of the money as it arrived via a disguised route.
Sport
Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan's national sport, in which Azerbaijan won up to fourteen medals, including four golds since joining the International Olympic Committee. Currently, the most popular sports include football and wrestling.
Football is the most popular sport in Azerbaijan, and the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan with 9,122 registered players, is the largest sporting association in the country. The national fo |
otball team of Azerbaijan demonstrates relatively low performance in the international arena compared to the nation football clubs. The most successful Azerbaijani football clubs are Neftchi Baku, Qaraba, and Gabala. In 2012, Neftchi Baku became the first Azerbaijani team to advance to the group stage of a European competition, beating APOEL of Cyprus 42 on aggregate in the playoff round of the 201213 UEFA Europa League. In 2014, Qaraba became the second Azerbaijani club advancing to the group stage of UEFA Europa League. In 2017, after beating Copenhagen 22 a in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League, Qaraba became the first Azerbaijani club to reach the Group stage. Futsal is another popular sport in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan national futsal team reached fourth place in the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship, while domestic club Araz Naxivan clinched bronze medals at the 200910 UEFA Futsal Cup and 201314 UEFA Futsal Cup. Azerbaijan was the main sponsor of Spanish football club Atltico de Madrid during s |
easons 20132014 and 20142015, a partnership that the club described should 'promote the image of Azerbaijan in the world'.
Azerbaijan is one of the traditional powerhouses of world chess, having hosted many international chess tournaments and competitions and became European Team Chess Championship winners in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Notable chess players from the country's chess schools that have made a great impact on the game include Teimour Radjabov, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Vladimir Makogonov, Vugar Gashimov and former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. , country's home of Shamkir Chess a category 22 event and one of the highest rated tournaments of all time.
Backgammon also plays a major role in Azerbaijani culture. The game is very popular in Azerbaijan and is widely played among the local public. There are also different variations of backgammon developed and analyzed by Azerbaijani experts.
Azerbaijan Women's Volleyball Super League is one of the strongest women leagues in the world. Its women's nation |
al team came fourth at the 2005 European Championship. Over the last years, clubs like Rabita Baku and Azerrail Baku achieved great success at European cups. Azerbaijani volleyball players include likes of Valeriya Korotenko, Oksana Parkhomenko, Inessa Korkmaz, Natalya Mammadova and Alla Hasanova.
Other Azerbaijani athletes are Namig Abdullayev, Toghrul Asgarov, Rovshan Bayramov, Sharif Sharifov, Mariya Stadnik and Farid Mansurov in wrestling, Nazim Huseynov, Elnur Mammadli, Elkhan Mammadov and Rustam Orujov in judo, Rafael Aghayev in karate, Magomedrasul Majidov and Aghasi Mammadov in boxing, Nizami Pashayev in Olympic weightlifting, Azad Asgarov in pankration, Eduard Mammadov in kickboxing, and K1 fighter Zabit Samedov.
Azerbaijan has a Formula One racetrack, made in June 2012, and the country hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix on 19 June 2016 and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Other annual sporting events held in the country are the Baku Cup tennis tournament and the Tour d' |
Azerbadjan cycling race.
Azerbaijan hosted several major sport competitions since the late 2000s, including the 2013 F1 Powerboat World Championship, 2012 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, 2010 European Wrestling Championships, 2009 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, 2014 European Taekwondo Championships, 2014 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, and 2016 World Chess Olympiad. On 8 December 2012, Baku was selected to host the 2015 European Games, the first to be held in the competition's history. Baku also hosted the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017 and the 2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, and it is also one of the hosts of UEFA Euro 2020, which because of Covid19 is being held in 2021.
See also
Outline of Azerbaijan
Index of Azerbaijanrelated articles
List of World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan
The Defense Foreign Affairs Handbook on Azerbaijan 2006
Notes
References
Further reading
Altstadt, Audrey. Frustrated Democracy in PostSovi |
et Azerbaijan 2018
Broers, Broers Laurence. Armenia and Azerbaijan Anatomy of a rivalry Edinburgh University Press, 2019.
Cornell, Svante E. Azerbaijan since independence Routledge, 2015.
Dragadze, Tamara. "Islam in Azerbaijan The Position of Women" in Muslim Womens Choices Routledge, 2020 pp. 152163.
Ergun, Aya. "Citizenship, National Identity, and NationBuilding in Azerbaijan Between the Legacy of the Past and the Spirit of Independence." Nationalities Papers 2021 118. online
Goltz, Thomas. Azerbaijan Diary A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an OilRich, WarTorn, PostSoviet Republic. M E Sharpe 1998.
Habibov, Nazim, Betty Jo Barrett, and Elena Chernyak. "Understanding women's empowerment and its determinants in postcommunist countries Results of Azerbaijan national survey." Women's Studies International Forum. Vol. 62. Pergamon, 2017.
Olukbasi, Suha. Azerbaijan A Political History. I.B. Tauris 2011. Focus on postSoviet era.
External links
General information
Azerbaijan International
Heydar Aliyev |
Foundation
Azerbaijan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
Azerbaijan at University of Colorado at Boulder
Country profile from BBC
Key Development Forecasts for Azerbaijan from International Futures
Visions of Azerbaijan Journal of The European Azerbaijan Society
Major government resources
President of Azerbaijan website
Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee
United Nations Office in Azerbaijan
Major news media
Network NEWS Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Today
Azerbaijan Press Agency
Trend News Agency
News.Az
Tourism
Azerbaijan Tourism Portal
Travel in Azerbaijan in Visions of Azerbaijan Journal
Caucasus
Countries in Asia
Countries in Europe
Eastern European countries
Western Asian countries
Landlocked countries
Member states of the Turkic Council
South Caucasus
Republics
Member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Member states of the Council of Europe
Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Current member states of the United Nations
States and te |
rritories established in 1991
1991 establishments in Asia
1991 establishments in Europe
Azerbaijanispeaking countries and territories
Russianspeaking countries and territories
Transcontinental countries
Members of the International Organization of Turkic Culture |
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies.
Amateur astronomers do not use the field of astronomy as their primary source of income or support, and usually have no professional degree in astrophysics or advanced academic training in the subject. Most amateurs are hobbyists, while others have a high degree of experience in astronomy and may often assist and work alongside professional astronomers. Many astronomers have studied the sky throughout history in an amateur framework; however, since the beginning of the twentieth century, professional ast |
ronomy has become an activity clearly distinguished from amateur astronomy and associated activities.
Amateur astronomers typically view the sky at night, when most celestial objects and astronomical events are visible, but others observe during the daytime by viewing the Sun and solar eclipses. Some just look at the sky using nothing more than their eyes or binoculars, but more dedicated amateurs often use portable telescopes or telescopes situated in their private or club observatories. Amateurs can also join as members of amateur astronomical societies, which can advise, educate or guide them towards ways of finding and observing celestial objects. They can also promote the science of astronomy among the general public.
Objectives
Collectively, amateur astronomers observe a variety of celestial objects and phenomena. Common targets of amateur astronomers include the Sun, the Moon, planets, stars, comets, meteor showers, and a variety of deep sky objects such as star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. |
Many amateurs like to specialise in observing particular objects, types of objects, or types of events which interest them. One branch of amateur astronomy, amateur astrophotography, involves the taking of photos of the night sky. Astrophotography has become more popular with the introduction of far easier to use equipment including, digital cameras, DSLR cameras and relatively sophisticated purpose built high quality CCD cameras.
Most amateur astronomers work at visible wavelengths, but a small minority experiment with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. An early pioneer of radio astronomy was Grote Reber, an amateur astronomer who constructed the first purpose built radio telescope in the late 1930s to follow up on the discovery of radio wavelength emissions from space by Karl Jansky. Nonvisual amateur astronomy includes the use of infrared filters on conventional telescopes, and also the use of radio telescopes. Some amateur astronomers use homemade radio telescopes, while others use radio tele |
scopes that were originally built for astronomical research but have since been made available for use by amateurs. The OneMile Telescope is one such example.
Common tools
Amateur astronomers use a range of instruments to study the sky, depending on a combination of their interests and resources. Methods include simply looking at the night sky with the naked eye, using binoculars, and using a variety of optical telescopes of varying power and quality, as well as additional sophisticated equipment, such as cameras, to study light from the sky in both the visual and nonvisual parts of the spectrum. Commercial telescopes are available, new and used, but it is also common for amateur astronomers to build or commission the building of their own custom telescopes. Some people even focus on amateur telescope making as their primary interest within the hobby of amateur astronomy.
Although specialized and experienced amateur astronomers tend to acquire more specialized and more powerful equipment over time, re |
latively simple equipment is often preferred for certain tasks. Binoculars, for instance, although generally of lower power than the majority of telescopes, also tend to provide a wider field of view, which is preferable for looking at some objects in the night sky.
Amateur astronomers also use star charts that, depending on experience and intentions, may range from simple planispheres through to detailed charts of very specific areas of the night sky. A range of astronomy software is available and used by amateur astronomers, including software that generates maps of the sky, software to assist with astrophotography, observation scheduling software, and software to perform various calculations pertaining to astronomical phenomena.
Amateur astronomers often like to keep records of their observations, which usually takes the form of an observing log. Observing logs typically record details about which objects were observed and when, as well as describing the details that were seen. Sketching is sometimes u |
sed within logs, and photographic records of observations have also been used in recent times. The information gathered is used to help studies and interactions between amateur astronomers in yearly gatherings. Although not professional information or credible, it is a way for the hobby lovers to share their new sightings and experiences.
The popularity of imaging among amateurs has led to large numbers of web sites being written by individuals about their images and equipment. Much of the social interaction of amateur astronomy occurs on mailing lists or discussion groups. Discussion group servers host numerous astronomy lists. A great deal of the commerce of amateur astronomy, the buying and selling of equipment, occurs online. Many amateurs use online tools to plan their nightly observing sessions, using tools such as the Clear Sky Chart.
Common techniques
While a number of interesting celestial objects are readily identified by the naked eye, sometimes with the aid of a star chart, many others are so |
faint or inconspicuous that technical means are necessary to locate them. Although many methods are used in amateur astronomy, most are variations of a few specific techniques.
Star hopping
Star hopping is a method often used by amateur astronomers with lowtech equipment such as binoculars or a manually driven telescope. It involves the use of maps or memory to locate known landmark stars, and "hopping" between them, often with the aid of a finderscope. Because of its simplicity, star hopping is a very common method for finding objects that are close to nakedeye stars.
More advanced methods of locating objects in the sky include telescope mounts with setting circles, which assist with pointing telescopes to positions in the sky that are known to contain objects of interest, and GOTO telescopes, which are fully automated telescopes that are capable of locating objects on demand having first been calibrated.
Mobile apps
The advent of mobile applications for use in smartphones has led to the creation of m |
any dedicated apps. These apps allow any user to easily locate celestial objects of interest by simply pointing the smartphone device in that direction in the sky. These apps make use of the inbuilt hardware in the phone, such as GPS location and gyroscope. Useful information about the pointed object like celestial coordinates, the name of the object, its constellation, etc. are provided for a quick reference. Some paid versions give more information. These apps are gradually getting into regular use during observing, for the alignment process of telescopes.
Setting circles
Setting circles are angular measurement scales that can be placed on the two main rotation axes of some telescopes. Since the widespread adoption of digital setting circles, any classical engraved setting circle is now specifically identified as an "analog setting circle" ASC. By knowing the coordinates of an object usually given in equatorial coordinates, the telescope user can use the setting circle to align i.e., point the telescop |
e in the appropriate direction before looking through its eyepiece. A computerized setting circle is called a "digital setting circle" DSC. Although digital setting circles can be used to display a telescope's RA and Dec coordinates, they are not simply a digital readout of what can be seen on the telescope's analog setting circles. As with goto telescopes, digital setting circle computers commercial names include Argo Navis, Sky Commander, and NGC Max contain databases of tens of thousands of celestial objects and projections of planet positions.
To find a celestial object in a telescope equipped with a DSC computer, one does not need to look up the specific RA and Dec coordinates in a book or other resource, and then adjust the telescope to those numerical readings. Rather, the object is chosen from the electronic database, which causes distance values and arrow markers to appear in the display that indicate the distance and direction to move the telescope. The telescope is moved until the two angular d |
istance values reach zero, indicating that the telescope is properly aligned. When both the RA and Dec axes are thus "zeroed out", the object should be in the eyepiece. Many DSCs, like goto systems, can also work in conjunction with laptop sky programs.
Computerized systems provide the further advantage of computing coordinate precession. Traditional printed sources are subtitled by the epoch year, which refers to the positions of celestial objects at a given time to the nearest year e.g., J2005, J2007. Most such printed sources have been updated for intervals of only about every fifty years e.g., J1900, J1950, J2000. Computerized sources, on the other hand, are able to calculate the right ascension and declination of the "epoch of date" to the exact instant of observation.
GoTo telescopes
GOTO telescopes have become more popular since the 1980s as technology has improved and prices have been reduced. With these computerdriven telescopes, the user typically enters the name of the item of interest and th |
e mechanics of the telescope point the telescope towards that item automatically. They have several notable advantages for amateur astronomers intent on research. For example, GOTO telescopes tend to be faster for locating items of interest than star hopping, allowing more time for studying of the object. GOTO also allows manufacturers to add equatorial tracking to mechanically simpler altazimuth telescope mounts, allowing them to produce an overall less expensive product. GOTO telescopes usually have to be calibrated using alignment stars in order to provide accurate tracking and positioning. However, several telescope manufacturers have recently developed telescope systems that are calibrated with the use of builtin GPS, decreasing the time it takes to set up a telescope at the start of an observing session.
Remotecontrolled telescopes
With the development of fast Internet in the last part of the 20th century along with advances in computer controlled telescope mounts and CCD cameras "Remote Telescope" |
astronomy is now a viable means for amateur astronomers not aligned with major telescope facilities to partake in research and deep sky imaging. This enables anyone to control a telescope a great distance away in a dark location. The observer can image through the telescope using CCD cameras. The digital data collected by the telescope is then transmitted and displayed to the user by means of the Internet. An example of a digital remote telescope operation for public use via the Internet is the Bareket observatory, and there are telescope farms in New Mexico, Australia and Atacama in Chile.
Imaging techniques
Amateur astronomers engage in many imaging techniques including film, DSLR, LRGB, and CCD astrophotography. Because CCD imagers are linear, image processing may be used to subtract away the effects of light pollution, which has increased the popularity of astrophotography in urban areas. Narrowband filters may also be used to minimize light pollution.
Scientific research
Scientific research is most |
often not the main goal for many amateur astronomers, unlike professional astronomers. Work of scientific merit is possible, however, and many amateurs successfully contribute to the knowledge base of professional astronomers. Astronomy is sometimes promoted as one of the few remaining sciences for which amateurs can still contribute useful data. To recognize this, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annually gives Amateur Achievement Awards for significant contributions to astronomy by amateurs.
The majority of scientific contributions by amateur astronomers are in the area of data collection. In particular, this applies where large numbers of amateur astronomers with small telescopes are more effective than the relatively small number of large telescopes that are available to professional astronomers. Several organizations, such as the American Association of Variable Star Observers and the British Astronomical Association, exist to help coordinate these contributions.
Amateur astronomers often c |
ontribute toward activities such as monitoring the changes in brightness of variable stars and supernovae, helping to track asteroids, and observing occultations to determine both the shape of asteroids and the shape of the terrain on the apparent edge of the Moon as seen from Earth. With more advanced equipment, but still cheap in comparison to professional setups, amateur astronomers can measure the light spectrum emitted from astronomical objects, which can yield highquality scientific data if the measurements are performed with due care. A relatively recent role for amateur astronomers is searching for overlooked phenomena e.g., Kreutz Sungrazers in the vast libraries of digital images and other data captured by Earth and space based observatories, much of which is available over the Internet.
In the past and present, amateur astronomers have played a major role in discovering new comets. Recently however, funding of projects such as the Lincoln NearEarth Asteroid Research and Near Earth Asteroid Track |
ing projects has meant that most comets are now discovered by automated systems long before it is possible for amateurs to see them.
Societies
There are a large number of amateur astronomical societies around the world, that serve as a meeting point for those interested in amateur astronomy. Members range from active observers with their own equipment to "armchair astronomers" who are simply interested in the topic. Societies range widely in their goals and activities, which may depend on a variety of factors such as geographic spread, local circumstances, size, and membership. For example, a small local society located in dark countryside may focus on practical observing and star parties, whereas a large one based in a major city might have numerous members but be limited by light pollution and thus hold regular indoor meetings with guest speakers instead. Major national or international societies generally publish their own journal or newsletter, and some hold large multiday meetings akin to a scientific |
conference or convention. They may also have sections devoted to particular topics, such as lunar observation or amateur telescope making.
Notable amateur astronomers
George Alcock, discovered several comets and novae.
Thomas Bopp, shared the discovery of Comet HaleBopp in 1995 with unemployed PhD physicist Alan Hale.
Robert Burnham Jr. 19311993, author of the Celestial Handbook.
Andrew Ainslie Common 18411903, built his own very large reflecting telescopes and demonstrated that photography could record astronomical features invisible to the human eye.
Robert E. Cox 19171989 who conducted the "Gleanings for ATMs" column in Sky Telescope magazine for 21 years.
John Dobson 19152014, whose name is associated with the Dobsonian telescope.
Robert Owen Evans is an amateur astronomer who holds the alltime record for visual discoveries of supernovae.
Clinton B. Ford 19131992, who specialized in the observation of variable stars.
John Ellard Gore 18451910, who specialized in the observation of variable st |
ars.
Edward Halbach 19092011, who specialized in the observation of variable stars.
Will Hay, the famous comedian and actor, who discovered a white spot on Saturn.
Walter Scott Houston 19121993 who wrote the "DeepSky Wonders" column in Sky Telescope magazine for almost 50 years.
Albert G. Ingalls 18881958, editor of Amateur Telescope Making, Vols. 13 and "The Amateur Scientist".
Peter Jalowiczor born in 1966 discovered four exoplanets
David H. Levy discovered or codiscovered 22 comets including Comet ShoemakerLevy 9, the most for any individual.
Terry Lovejoy discovered five comets in the 21st century and developed modifications to DSLR cameras for astrophotography.
Sir Patrick Moore 19232012, presenter of the BBC's longrunning The Sky at Night and author of many books on astronomy.
Leslie Peltier 19001980, a prolific discoverer of comets and wellknown observer of variable stars.
John M. Pierce 18861958 was one of the founders of the Springfield Telescope Makers.
Russell W. Porter 18711949 founded |
Stellafane and has been referred to as the "founder"
Grote Reber 19112002, pioneer of radio astronomy constructing the first purpose built radio telescope and conducted the first sky survey in the radio frequency.
Isaac Roberts 18291904, early experimenter in astronomical photography.
Discoveries with major contributions by amateur astronomers
Cygnus A 1939 is a radio galaxy and one of the strongest radio sources on the sky.
Dramatic period decrease in T Ursae Minoris using AAVSO observations 1995
McNeil's Nebula 2004 is a variable nebula
XO1b 2006 is an exoplanet
tidal streams around NGC 5907 2008
Voorwerpjes 2009 is a type of quasar ionization echo.
Pea Galaxies 2009 are a type of galaxy.
Most recent 2010 outburst of U Scorpii
Kronberger 61 2011 is a planetary nebula.
Speca 2011 is a spiral galaxy containing contain DRAGNs Double Radiosource Associated with Galactic Nucleus.
2011 HM102 2013 is a Neptune Trojan.
PH1b 2013 is an extrasolar planet in a circumbinary orbit in a quadruple star system.
P |
H2b 2013 is an extrasolar gas giant planet located in its parent star's habitable zone.
J16492635 2014 is a spiral galaxy containing contain DRAGNs Double Radiosource Associated with Galactic Nucleus.
Yellowballs 2015 are a type of compact starforming region.
9Spitch 2015 is a distant gravitationally lensed galaxy with high starforming rate.
NGC 253dw2 2016 is a dwarf spheroidal dSph galaxy candidate undergoing tidal disruption around the nearby galaxy NGC 253. The galaxy was discovered by an amateur astronomer with a smallaperture amateur telescope.
KIC 8462852 2016 is an Ftype star showing unusual dimming events.
HD 74389 2016 contains a debris disk. It is the first debris disk discovered around a star with a companion white dwarf.
AWI0005x3s 2016 is the oldest Mdwarf with a debris disk detected in a moving group at the time of the discovery.
PSR J19131102 2016 is a binary neutron star with the highest total mass at the time of the discovery.
Donatiello I 2016 a nearby spheroidal dwarf galaxy discovered b |
y the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. It is also the first galaxy to be named after an amateur astronomer.
Transiting Exocomets 2017 are comets in an extrasolar system blocking some of the starlight while transiting in front of the extrasolar star.
K2138 2018 is a planetary system with five confirmed planets in an unbroken 32resonance chain.
Supernova 2016gkg 2018 was observed by an amateur astronomer shortly after it began to erupt.
PSR J17447619 2018 is the first Pulsar to be detected only in gammarays and not in radiowaves.
STEVE 2018 is an atmospheric phenomenon.
K2288Bb 2019 is an extrasolar planet in the habitable zone around a Mstar, which belongs to a binary system.
LSPM J02073331 2019 is an old white dwarf containing a debris disk with two components.
Interstellar Comet 2IBorisov 2019 is the first interstellar comet.
Kojima1Lb confirmed in 2019 is a Neptunesized exoplanet discovered by an amateur astronomer with the microlensing method. Kojima1 is the brightest microlensing host disc |
overed.
WISE21507520AB 20192020 is a pair of brown dwarfs with the lowest binding energy at a total mass smaller than 0.1 solar masses not associated with a young cluster.
GJ 3470 c 2020 is the first exoplanet candidate completely discovered by amateurs. Unlike Peter Jalowiczor, Kojima1Lb and XO1b, GJ 3470 c was fully discovered by an amateur in a project led by amateur astronomers.
Pisces VIITriangulum IIII Psc VIIITri III is an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy in Messier 31 system, a possible satellite of Messier 33. It is the second discovery credited to the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello, already discoverer of the dwarf galaxy Donatiello I.
Donatiello II, Donatiello III and Donatiello IV, three new satellites of the nearby galaxy NGC 253, discovered in 2021 by the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. With these three new dwarf galaxies, Donatiello I and Pisces VII, his total discoveries in this topic are five.
Prizes recognizing amateur astronomers
Amateur Achievement Award of Astron |
omical Society of the Pacific
Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award
See also
Astronomical object
Caldwell catalogue A list of astronomical objects for observation by amateur astronomers compiled by Sir Patrick CaldwellMoore.
Clear Sky Chart Weather forecasts designed for amateur astronomers.
List of astronomical societies
List of telescope parts and construction
Messier catalogue A set of astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771, which is still used by many amateurs as an observing list.
Observation
Observational astronomy
Sidewalk astronomy
Skygazing
Star party
References
Further reading
External links
Amateur Astronomy Magazine
Articles containing video clips
Citizen science |
Aikido , , , is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying with life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit". According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness. Morihei Ueshiba used the phrase to refer to this principle.
Aikido's fundamental principles include entering, , breathing control, triangular principle and turning movements that redirect the opponent's attack momentum. Its curriculum comprises various |
techniques, primarily throws and joint locks. It also includes a weapons system encompassing the , and .
Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitry Aikijjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the motoky religion. Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term .
Ueshiba's senior students have different approaches to aikido, depending partly on when they studied with him. Today, aikido is found all over the world in a number of styles, with broad ranges of interpretation and emphasis. However, they all share techniques formulated by Ueshiba and most have concern for the wellbeing of the attacker.
Etymology and basic philosophy
The word "aikido" is formed of three kanji
harmony, unifying
energy, spirit
way, path
The term does not readily appear in the Japanese language outside the scope of bud. This has led to many possible interpretations of the word.
is mainly used in compounds to mean 'combine, unite, join together |
, meet', examples being combinedunited, composition, unitecombinejoin together, unionallianceassociation, combineunify, and mutual agreement. There is an idea of reciprocity, to get to know one another, talkdiscussionnegotiation, and meet by appointment.
is often used to describe a feeling or emotive action, as in 'I feel X', as in terms of thinking but with less cognitive reasoning, and feelingsensation; it is used to mean energy or force, as in electricity and magnetism; it can also refer to qualities or aspects of people or things, as in spirittraittemperament. The characters aeteological history can be traced back to the much older Chinese character of that is used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine and acupunture.
The term in Aikido is found in many other Japanese martial arts such as, judo and kendo, and in various nonmartial arts, such as Japanese calligraphy , flower arranging and tea ceremony or .
Therefore, from a purely literal interpretation, aikido is the "Way of |
combining forces" or "Way of unifying energy", in which the term refers to the martial arts principle or tactic of blending with an attacker's movements for the purpose of controlling their actions with minimal effort. One applies by understanding the rhythm and intent of the attacker to find the optimal position and timing to apply a countertechnique.
History
Aikido was created by 18831969, referred to by some aikido practitioners as Great Teacher. The term aikido was coined in the 20th century. Ueshiba envisioned aikido not only as the synthesis of his martial training, but as an expression of his personal philosophy of universal peace and reconciliation. During Ueshiba's lifetime and continuing today, aikido has evolved from the that Ueshiba studied into a variety of expressions by martial artists throughout the world.
Initial development
Ueshiba developed aikido primarily during the late 1920s through the 1930s through the synthesis of the older martial arts that he had studied. The core martial |
art from which aikido derives is Daitry Aikijjutsu, which Ueshiba studied directly with Takeda Skaku, the reviver of that art. Additionally, Ueshiba is known to have studied Tenjin Shin'yry with Tozawa Tokusabur in Tokyo in 1901, Gotha Yagy Shinganry under Nakai Masakatsu in Sakai from 1903 to 1908, and judo with 18941972 in Tanabe in 1911.
The art of is the primary technical influence on aikido. Along with emptyhanded throwing and jointlocking techniques, Ueshiba incorporated training movements with weapons, such as those for the spear , short staff , and possibly the . Aikido also derives much of its technical structure from the art of swordsmanship .
Ueshiba moved to Hokkaid in 1912, and began studying under Takeda Sokaku in 1915; His official association with Daitry continued until 1937. However, during the latter part of that period, Ueshiba had already begun to distance himself from Takeda and the . At that time Ueshiba referred to his martial art as "Aiki Bud". It is unclear exactly when Ueshiba be |
gan using the name "aikido", but it became the official name of the art in 1942 when the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society was engaged in a government sponsored reorganization and centralization of Japanese martial arts.
Religious influences
After Ueshiba left Hokkaid in 1919, he met and was profoundly influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader of the motoky religion a neoShinto movement in Ayabe. One of the primary features of motoky is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This idea was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and harmlessly redirect it. In an ideal resolution, not only is the receiver unharmed, but so is the attacker.
In addition to the effect on his spiritual growth, the connection with Deguchi gave Ueshiba entry to elite political and military circ |
les as a martial artist. As a result of this exposure, he was able to attract not only financial backing but also gifted students. Several of these students would found their own styles of aikido.
International dissemination
Aikido was first introduced to the rest of the world in 1951 by Minoru Mochizuki with a visit to France, where he demonstrated aikido techniques to judo students. He was followed by Tadashi Abe in 1952, who came as the official Aikikai Hombu representative, remaining in France for seven years. Kenji Tomiki toured with a delegation of various martial arts through 15 continental states of the United States in 1953. Later that year, Koichi Tohei was sent by Aikikai Hombu to Hawaii for a full year, where he set up several dj. This trip was followed by several subsequent visits and is considered the formal introduction of aikido to the United States. The United Kingdom followed in 1955; Italy in 1964 by Hiroshi Tada; and Germany in 1965 by Katsuaki Asai. Designated the "Official Delegate for |
Europe and Africa" by Morihei Ueshiba, Masamichi Noro arrived in France in September 1961. Seiichi Sugano was appointed to introduce aikido to Australia in 1965. Today there are aikido dj throughout the world.
Proliferation of independent organizations
The largest aikido organization is the Aikikai Foundation, which remains under the control of the Ueshiba family. However, aikido has developed into many styles, most of which were formed by Morihei Ueshiba's major students.
The earliest independent styles to emerge were Yoseikan Aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931, Yoshinkan Aikido, founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955, and Shodokan Aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967. The emergence of these styles predated Ueshiba's death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan Aikido, however, was controversial, since it introduced a unique rulebased competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido.
After Ueshiba's death in 1969, two more major styles emerged. Signific |
ant controversy arose with the departure of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo's chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, and the organization that governs it, the Ki Society .
A final major style evolved from Ueshiba's retirement in Iwama, Ibaraki and the teaching methodology of long term student Morihiro Saito. It is unofficially referred to as the "Iwama style", and at one point a number of its followers formed a loose network of schools they called Iwama Ryu. Although Iwama style practitioners remained part of the Aikikai until Saito's death in 2002, followers of Saito subsequently split into two groups. One remained with the Aikikai and the other formed the independent Shinshin Aikishuren Kai in 2004 around Saito's son Hit |
ohiro Saito.
Today, the major styles of aikido are each run by a separate governing organization, have their own in Japan, and are taught throughout the world.
The study of is an important component of aikido. The term does not specifically refer to either physical or mental training, as it encompasses both. The kanji for was written in its older form as up until the Japanese governmental writing reforms after World War II, and now is more prevalently seen in its modern form of . This form has the removal of the eight directions denoting the pre and post natal energies of Chinese also known in the Art of Aikido as "Source energy".
The character for is used in everyday Japanese terms, such as , or . has many meanings, including "ambience", "mind", "mood", or "intention and action", however, in traditional martial arts and medicine it is often referred to in its more general terminology as "life energy". Gozo Shioda's Yoshinkan Aikido, considered one of the "hard styles", largely follows Ueshiba's t |
eachings from before World War II, and surmises that the secret to lies in timing and the application of the whole body's strength to a single point. In later years, Ueshiba's application of in aikido took on a softer, more gentle feel. This concept was known as Takemusu Aiki, and many of his later students teach about from this perspective. Koichi Tohei's Ki Society centers almost exclusively around the study of the empirical albeit subjective experience of , with students' proficiency in aikido techniques and development ranked separately.
Training
In aikido, as in virtually all Japanese martial arts, there are both physical and mental aspects of training. The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques. Because a substantial portion of any aikido curriculum consists of throws, beginners learn how to safely fall or roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense consi |
st of throws and pins. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and techniques with weapons.
Fitness
Physical training goals pursued in conjunction with aikido include controlled relaxation, correct movement of joints such as hips and shoulders, flexibility, and endurance, with less emphasis on strength training. In aikido, pushing or extending movements are much more common than pulling or contracting movements. This distinction can be applied to general fitness goals for the aikido practitioner.
In aikido, specific muscles or muscle groups are not isolated and worked to improve tone, mass, or power. Aikidorelated training emphasizes the use of coordinated wholebody movement and balance similar to yoga or pilates. For example, many djs begin each class with , which may include stretching and break falls.
Roles of and
Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing prearranged forms rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern |
is for the receiver of the technique to initiate an attack against the person who applies the techniquethe , or depending on aikido style, also referred to as when applying a throwing technique, who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique.
Both halves of the technique, that of and that of , are considered essential to aikido training. Both are studying aikido principles of blending and adaptation. learns to blend with and control attacking energy, while learns to become calm and flexible in the disadvantageous, offbalance positions in which places them. This "receiving" of the technique is called . continuously seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities e.g., an exposed side, while uses position and timing to keep offbalance and vulnerable. In more advanced training, will sometimes apply to regain balance and pin or throw .
refers to the act of receiving a technique. Good involves attention to the technique, the partner, and the immediate environmentit is considered an active |
part of the process of learning aikido. The method of falling itself is also important, and is a way for the practitioner to receive an aikido technique safely and minimize risk of injury.
Initial attacks
Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack, so students must learn to deliver various types of attacks to be able to practice aikido with a partner. Although attacks are not studied as thoroughly as in strikingbased arts, attacks with intent such as a strong strike or an immobilizing grab are needed to study correct and effective application of technique.
Many of the of aikido resemble cuts from a sword or other grasped object, which indicate its origins in techniques intended for armed combat. Other techniques, which explicitly appear to be punches , are practiced as thrusts with a knife or sword. Kicks are generally reserved for upperlevel variations; reasons cited include that falls from kicks are especially dangerous, and that kicks high kicks in particular were uncommon during the type |
s of combat prevalent in feudal Japan.
Some basic strikes include
is a vertical knifehand strike to the head. In training, this is usually directed at the forehead or the crown for safety, but more dangerous versions of this attack target the bridge of the nose and the maxillary sinus.
is a diagonal knifehand strike to the side of the head or neck.
is a punch to the torso. Specific targets include the chest, abdomen, and solar plexus, sometimes referred to as , or .
is a punch to the face, sometimes referred to as .
Beginners in particular often practice techniques from grabs, both because they are safer and because it is easier to feel the energy and the direction of the movement of force of a hold than it is for a strike. Some grabs are historically derived from being held while trying to draw a weapon, whereupon a technique could then be used to free oneself and immobilize or strike the attacker while they are grabbing the defender. The following are examples of some basic grabs
, when one hand |
grabs one wrist.
, when both hands grab one wrist; sometimes referred to as
, when both hands grab both wrists; sometimes referred to as .
when one shoulder is grabbed.
, when both shoulders are grabbed. It is sometimes combined with an overhead strike as .
, when the lapel is grabbed; sometimes referred to as .
Basic techniques
The following are a sample of the basic or widely practiced throws and pins. Many of these techniques derive from Daitry Aikijjutsu, but some others were invented by Morihei Ueshiba. The precise terminology for some may vary between organisations and styles; the following are the terms used by the Aikikai Foundation. Note that despite the names of the first five techniques listed, they are not universally taught in numeric order.
, a control technique using one hand on the elbow and one hand near the wrist which leverages to the ground. This grip applies pressure into the ulnar nerve at the wrist.
is a pronating wristlock that torques the arm and applies painful nerve pre |
ssure. There is an adductive wristlock or Zlock in the version.
is a rotational wristlock that directs upwardspiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder.
is a shoulder control technique similar to , but with both hands gripping the forearm. The knuckles from the palm side are applied to the recipient's radial nerve against the periosteum of the forearm bone.
is a technique that is visually similar to , but with an inverted grip of the wrist, medial rotation of the arm and shoulder, and downward pressure on the elbow. Common in knife and other weapon takeaways.
is a throw during which 's hand is folded back past the shoulder, locking the shoulder joint.
is a supinating wristlockthrow that stretches the extensor digitorum.
is a loosely used umbrella term for various types of mechanically unrelated techniques; generally do not use joint locks like other techniques.
, throws in which moves through the space occupied by . The classic form superficially resembles a "clothesline" techniqu |
e.
, a throw in which, beginning with , moving forward, sweeps one hand low "earth" and the other high "heaven", which unbalances so that he or she easily topples over.
, aikido's version of the hip throw; drops their hips lower than those of , then flips over the resultant fulcrum.
or , a throw that locks the arms against each other the kanji for "10" is a crossshape .
is a throw in which sweeps 's arm back until it locks the shoulder joint, then uses forward pressure to throw them.
Implementations
Aikido makes use of body movement to blend the movement of with the movement of . For example, an "entering" technique consists of movements inward towards , while a technique uses a pivoting motion.
Additionally, an technique takes place in front of , whereas an technique takes place to their side; a technique is applied with motion to the front of , and a version is applied with motion towards the rear of , usually by incorporating a turning or pivoting motion. Finally, most techniques can b |
e performed while in a seated posture . Techniques where both and are standing are called , techniques where both start off in are called , and techniques performed with standing and sitting are called .
From these few basic techniques, there are numerous of possible implementations. For example, can be applied to an opponent moving forward with a strike perhaps with an type of movement to redirect the incoming force, or to an opponent who has already struck and is now moving back to reestablish distance perhaps an version. Specific aikido are typically referred to with the formula "attacktechniquemodifier"; , for example, refers to any technique executed when is holding one wrist. This could be further specified as referring to any forwardmoving technique from that grab.
are strikes or feints employed during an aikido technique. Some view as attacks against "vital points" meant to cause damage in and of themselves. For instance, Gozo Shioda described using in a brawl to quickly down a gang |
's leader. Others consider , especially to the face, to be methods of distraction meant to enable other techniques; a strike, even if it is blocked, can startle the target and break their concentration. Additionally, the target may also become unbalanced while attempting to avoid a strike by jerking the head back, for example which may allow for an easier throw. Many sayings about are attributed to Morihei Ueshiba, who considered them an essential element of technique.
Weapons
Weapons training in aikido traditionally includes the short staff these techniques closely resemble the use of the bayonet, or Jkend, the wooden sword , and the knife . Some schools incorporate firearmdisarming techniques, where either weapontaking andor weaponretention may be taught. Some schools, such as the Iwama style of Morihiro Saito, usually spend substantial time practicing with both and , under the names of , and , respectively.
The founder developed many of the emptyhanded techniques from traditional sword, spear and bay |
onet movements. Consequently, the practice of the weapons arts gives insight into the origin of techniques and movements, and reinforces the concepts of distance, timing, foot movement, presence and connectedness with one's training partners.
Multiple attackers and
One feature of aikido is training to defend against multiple attackers, often called , or . Freestyle practice with multiple attackers called is a key part of most curricula and is required for the higherlevel ranks. exercises a person's ability to intuitively perform techniques in an unstructured environment. Strategic choice of techniques, based on how they reposition the student relative to other attackers, is important in training. For instance, an technique might be used to neutralise the current attacker while turning to face attackers approaching from behind.
In Shodokan Aikido, differs in that it is not performed with multiple persons with defined roles of defender and attacker, but between two people, where both participants attack |
, defend, and counter at will. In this respect it resembles judo .
Injuries
In applying a technique during training, it is the responsibility of to prevent injury to by employing a speed and force of application that is appropriate with their partner's proficiency in . When injuries especially to the joints occur, they are often the result of a misjudging the ability of to receive the throw or pin.
A study of injuries in the martial arts showed that the type of injuries varied considerably from one art to the other. Soft tissue injuries are one of the most common types of injuries found within aikido, as well as joint strain and stubbed fingers and toes. Several deaths from headandneck injuries, caused by aggressive in a hazing context, have been reported.
Mental training
Aikido training is mental as well as physical, emphasizing the ability to relax the mind and body even under the stress of dangerous situations. This is necessary to enable the practitioner to perform the 'enterandblend' movements t |
hat underlie aikido techniques, wherein an attack is met with confidence and directness. Morihei Ueshiba once remarked that one "must be willing to receive 99 of an opponent's attack and stare death in the face" in order to execute techniques without hesitation. As a martial art concerned not only with fighting proficiency but with the betterment of daily life, this mental aspect is of key importance to aikido practitioners.
Uniforms and ranking
Aikido practitioners commonly called outside Japan generally progress by promotion through a series of "grades" , followed by a series of "degrees" , pursuant to formal testing procedures. Some aikido organizations use belts to distinguish practitioners' grades, often simply white and black belts to distinguish and grades, although some use various belt colors. Testing requirements vary, so a particular rank in one organization is not comparable or interchangeable with the rank of another. Some djs have an age requirement before students can take the rank exam.
|
The uniform worn for practicing aikido is similar to the training uniform used in most other modern martial arts; simple trousers and a wraparound jacket, usually white. Both thick "judostyle", and thin "karatestyle" cotton tops are used. Aikidospecific tops are available with shorter sleeves which reach to just below the elbow.
Most aikido systems add a pair of wide pleated black or indigo trousers known as used also in Naginatajutsu, kendo, and iaido. In many schools, the wear of is reserved for practitioners with ranks or for instructors, while others allow all practitioners to wear a regardless of rank.
Aikido styles
Aikido styles vary in their intention as due to its holistic nature. The most common differences noted in aikido, when observed externally, relate to the intensity and realism of training. Stanley Pranin has observed that some criticism may stem from weak attacks from , allowing for a conditioned response from , resulting in underdevelopment of the skills needed for the safe and effe |
ctive practice of both partners.
To counteract this, some styles allow students to become less compliant over time, but, in keeping with the core philosophies, this is after having demonstrated proficiency in being able to protect themselves and their training partners. Shodokan Aikido addresses the issue by practicing in a competitive format. Conversely other postwar styles emphasis spiritual development, enlightenment, peace studies, or the study of traditional medicine for health studies.
Reasons for the difference and diversity of teachings, intention, and forms of aikido can be traced to the shift in training focus after the end of Ueshiba's seclusion in Iwama from 1942 to the mid1950s, as he increasingly emphasized the spiritual and philosophical aspects of aikido. As a result, strikes to vital points by , entering and initiation of techniques by , the distinction between front side and back side techniques, and the use of weapons, were all deemphasized or eliminated from practice.
Conversely, som |
e styles of aikido place less importance on the spiritual practices emphasized by Ueshiba. According to Minoru Shibata of Aikido Journal
OSensei's aikido was not a continuation and extension of the old and has a distinct discontinuity with past martial and philosophical concepts.
In other words, aikido practitioners who focus on aikido's roots in traditional or are said to be diverging from what Ueshiba taught, as some critics urge practitioners
Ueshiba's transcendence to the spiritual and universal reality were the fundamentals of the paradigm that he demonstrated.
References
External links
AikiWeb Aikido Information site on aikido, with essays, forums, gallery, reviews, columns, wiki and other information.
Japanese martial arts
D
Articles containing video clips |
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art, and ideas have changed over time. The three classical branches of visual art are painting, sculpture, and architecture. Theatre, dance, and other performing arts, as well as literature, music, film and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences. In modern usage after the 17th century, where aesthetic considerations are paramount, the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general, such as the decorative or applied arts.
The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. The resulting a |
rtworks are studied in the professional fields of art criticism and the history of art.
Overview
In the perspective of the history of art, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind from early prehistoric art to contemporary art; however, some theorists feel that the typical concept of "artistic works" fits less well outside modern Western societies. One early sense of the definition of art is closely related to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft", as associated with words such as "artisan". English words derived from this meaning include artifact, artificial, artifice, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.
Over time, philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Kant, among others, questioned the meaning of art. Several dialogues in Plato tackle questions about art Socrates says that poetry is inspired by the muses, and is not rational. He speaks approvingl |
y of this, and other forms of divine madness drunkenness, eroticism, and dreaming in the Phaedrus 265ac, and yet in the Republic wants to outlaw Homer's great poetic art, and laughter as well. In Ion, Socrates gives no hint of the disapproval of Homer that he expresses in the Republic. The dialogue Ion suggests that Homer's Iliad functioned in the ancient Greek world as the Bible does today in the modern Christian world as divinely inspired literary art that can provide moral guidance, if only it can be properly interpreted.
With regards to the literary art and the musical arts, Aristotle considered epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, Dithyrambic poetry and music to be mimetic or imitative art, each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner. For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas t |
ragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms differ in their manner of imitationthrough narrative or character, through change or no change, and through drama or no drama. Aristotle believed that imitation is natural to mankind and constitutes one of mankind's advantages over animals.
The more recent and specific sense of the word art as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art emerged in the early 17th century. Fine art refers to a skill used to express the artist's creativity, or to engage the audience's aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of more refined or finer work of art.
Within this latter sense, the word art may refer to several things i a study of a creative skill, ii a process of using the creative skill, iii a product of the creative skill, or iv the audience's experience with the creative skill. The creative arts art as discipline are a collection of disciplines which produce artworks art as objects that are compelled by a personal d |
rive art as activity and convey a message, mood, or symbolism for the perceiver to interpret art as experience. Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. Works of art can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on the basis of images or objects. For some scholars, such as Kant, the sciences and the arts could be distinguished by taking science as representing the domain of knowledge and the arts as representing the domain of the freedom of artistic expression.
Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it may be considered commercial art instead of fine art. On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art. Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitiona |
l difference. However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and selfexpression. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically, spiritually, or philosophically motivated art; to create a sense of beauty see aesthetics; to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions. The purpose may also be seemingly nonexistent.
The nature of art has been described by philosopher Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture". Art has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation. Art as mimesis has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle. Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another. Benedetto Croce and R. G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art t |
herefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator. The theory of art as form has its roots in the philosophy of Kant, and was developed in the early 20th century by Roger Fry and Clive Bell. More recently, thinkers influenced by Martin Heidegger have interpreted art as the means by which a community develops for itself a medium for selfexpression and interpretation. George Dickie has offered an institutional theory of art that defines a work of art as any artifact upon which a qualified person or persons acting on behalf of the social institution commonly referred to as "the art world" has conferred "the status of candidate for appreciation". Larry Shiner has described fine art as "not an essence or a fate but something we have made. Art as we have generally understood it is a European invention barely two hundred years old."
Art may be characterized in terms of mimesis its representation of reality, narrative storytelling, expression, communication of emotion, or other qualities. During the Romantic p |
eriod, art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".
History
A shell engraved by Homo erectus was determined to be between 430,000 and 540,000 years old. A set of eight 130,000 years old whitetailed eagle talons bear cut marks and abrasion that indicate manipulation by neanderthals, possibly for using it as jewelry. A series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000 years oldwere discovered in a South African cave. Containers that may have been used to hold paints have been found dating as far back as 100,000 years.
Sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings and petroglyphs from the Upper Paleolithic dating to roughly 40,000 years ago have been found, but the precise meaning of such art is often disputed because so little is known about the cultures that produced them.
Many great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the great ancient civilizations Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, Ancient Greece, Rome, as well |
as Inca, Maya, and Olmec. Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in its art. Because of the size and duration of these civilizations, more of their art works have survived and more of their influence has been transmitted to other cultures and later times. Some also have provided the first records of how artists worked. For example, this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty, and anatomically correct proportions.
In Byzantine and Medieval art of the Western Middle Ages, much art focused on the expression of subjects about Biblical and religious culture, and used styles that showed the higher glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in the background of paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned flat forms. Nevertheless, a classical realist tradition persisted in small Byzantine works, and realism s |
teadily grew in the art of Catholic Europe.
Renaissance art had a greatly increased emphasis on the realistic depiction of the material world, and the place of humans in it, reflected in the corporeality of the human body, and development of a systematic method of graphical perspective to depict recession in a threedimensional picture space.
In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphasis on geometric patterns, calligraphy, and architecture. Further east, religion dominated artistic styles and forms too. India and Tibet saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance, while religious painting borrowed many conventions from sculpture and tended to bright contrasting colors with emphasis on outlines. China saw the flourishing of many art forms jade carving, bronzework, pottery including the stunning terracotta army of Emperor Qin, poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, drama, fiction, etc. Chinese styles vary greatly from era to era and each one is traditionally named after the ruling dynasty. |
So, for example, Tang dynasty paintings are monochromatic and sparse, emphasizing idealized landscapes, but Ming dynasty paintings are busy and colorful, and focus on telling stories via setting and composition. Japan names its styles after imperial dynasties too, and also saw much interplay between the styles of calligraphy and painting. Woodblock printing became important in Japan after the 17th century.
The western Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century saw artistic depictions of physical and rational certainties of the clockwork universe, as well as politically revolutionary visions of a postmonarchist world, such as Blake's portrayal of Newton as a divine geometer, or David's propagandistic paintings. This led to Romantic rejections of this in favor of pictures of the emotional side and individuality of humans, exemplified in the novels of Goethe. The late 19th century then saw a host of artistic movements, such as academic art, Symbolism, impressionism and fauvism among others.
The history of 20thc |
entury art is a narrative of endless possibilities and the search for new standards, each being torn down in succession by the next. Thus the parameters of Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, etc. cannot be maintained very much beyond the time of their invention. Increasing global interaction during this time saw an equivalent influence of other cultures into Western art. Thus, Japanese woodblock prints themselves influenced by Western Renaissance draftsmanship had an immense influence on impressionism and subsequent development. Later, African sculptures were taken up by Picasso and to some extent by Matisse. Similarly, in the 19th and 20th centuries the West has had huge impacts on Eastern art with originally western ideas like Communism and PostModernism exerting a powerful influence.
Modernism, the idealistic search for truth, gave way in the latter half of the 20th century to a realization of its unattainability. Theodor W. Adorno said in 1970, "It is now taken for grante |
d that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more neither art itself, nor art in relationship to the whole, nor even the right of art to exist." Relativism was accepted as an unavoidable truth, which led to the period of contemporary art and postmodern criticism, where cultures of the world and of history are seen as changing forms, which can be appreciated and drawn from only with skepticism and irony. Furthermore, the separation of cultures is increasingly blurred and some argue it is now more appropriate to think in terms of a global culture, rather than of regional ones.
In The Origin of the Work of Art, Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher and a seminal thinker, describes the essence of art in terms of the concepts of being and truth. He argues that art is not only a way of expressing the element of truth in a culture, but the means of creating it and providing a springboard from which "that which is" can be revealed. Works of art are not merely representations of the way things are, |
but actually produce a community's shared understanding. Each time a new artwork is added to any culture, the meaning of what it is to exist is inherently changed.
Historically, art and artistic skills and ideas have often been spread through trade. An example of this is the Silk Road, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influences could mix. Greco Buddhist art is one of the most vivid examples of this interaction. The meeting of different cultures and worldviews also influenced artistic creation. An example of this is the multicultural port metropolis of Trieste at the beginning of the 20th century, where James Joyce met writers from Central Europe and the artistic development of New York City as a cultural melting pot.
Forms, genres, media, and styles
The creative arts are often divided into more specific categories, typically along perceptually distinguishable categories such as media, genre, styles, and form. Art form refers to the elements of art that are independent of its interpretation |
or significance. It covers the methods adopted by the artist and the physical composition of the artwork, primarily nonsemantic aspects of the work i.e., figurae, such as color, contour, dimension, medium, melody, space, texture, and value. Form may also include visual design principles, such as arrangement, balance, contrast, emphasis, harmony, proportion, proximity, and rhythm.
In general there are three schools of philosophy regarding art, focusing respectively on form, content, and context. Extreme Formalism is the view that all aesthetic properties of art are formal that is, part of the art form. Philosophers almost universally reject this view and hold that the properties and aesthetics of art extend beyond materials, techniques, and form. Unfortunately, there is little consensus on terminology for these informal properties. Some authors refer to subject matter and content i.e., denotations and connotations while others prefer terms like meaning and significance.
Extreme Intentionalism holds that au |
thorial intent plays a decisive role in the meaning of a work of art, conveying the content or essential main idea, while all other interpretations can be discarded. It defines the subject as the persons or idea represented, and the content as the artist's experience of that subject. For example, the composition of Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne is partly borrowed from the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. As evidenced by the title, the subject is Napoleon, and the content is Ingres's representation of Napoleon as "EmperorGod beyond time and space". Similarly to extreme formalism, philosophers typically reject extreme intentionalism, because art may have multiple ambiguous meanings and authorial intent may be unknowable and thus irrelevant. Its restrictive interpretation is "socially unhealthy, philosophically unreal, and politically unwise".
Finally, the developing theory of poststructuralism studies art's significance in a cultural context, such as the ideas, emotions, and reactions prompted by a work. The cul |
tural context often reduces to the artist's techniques and intentions, in which case analysis proceeds along lines similar to formalism and intentionalism. However, in other cases historical and material conditions may predominate, such as religious and philosophical convictions, sociopolitical and economic structures, or even climate and geography. Art criticism continues to grow and develop alongside art.
Skill and craft
Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. Art can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language to convey meaning with immediacy or depth. Art can be defined as an act of expressing feelings, thoughts, and observations.
There is an understanding that is reached with the material as a result of handling it, which facilitates one's thought processes.
A common view is that the epithet "art", particular in its elevated sense, requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist, whether this be a demonstration of technical ability, an ori |
ginality in stylistic approach, or a combination of these two. Traditionally skill of execution was viewed as a quality inseparable from art and thus necessary for its success; for Leonardo da Vinci, art, neither more nor less than his other endeavors, was a manifestation of skill. Rembrandt's work, now praised for its ephemeral virtues, was most admired by his contemporaries for its virtuosity. At the turn of the 20th century, the adroit performances of John Singer Sargent were alternately admired and viewed with skepticism for their manual fluency, yet at nearly the same time the artist who would become the era's most recognized and peripatetic iconoclast, Pablo Picasso, was completing a traditional academic training at which he excelled.
A common contemporary criticism of some modern art occurs along the lines of objecting to the apparent lack of skill or ability required in the production of the artistic object. In conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" is among the first examples of pieces wherein |
the artist used found objects "readymade" and exercised no traditionally recognised set of skills. Tracey Emin's My Bed, or Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living follow this example and also manipulate the mass media. Emin slept and engaged in other activities in her bed before placing the result in a gallery as work of art. Hirst came up with the conceptual design for the artwork but has left most of the eventual creation of many works to employed artisans. Hirst's celebrity is founded entirely on his ability to produce shocking concepts. The actual production in many conceptual and contemporary works of art is a matter of assembly of found objects. However, there are many modernist and contemporary artists who continue to excel in the skills of drawing and painting and in creating handson works of art.
Purpose
Art has had a great number of different functions throughout its history, making its purpose difficult to abstract or quantify to any single concept. This |
does not imply that the purpose of Art is "vague", but that it has had many unique, different reasons for being created. Some of these functions of Art are provided in the following outline. The different purposes of art may be grouped according to those that are nonmotivated, and those that are motivated LviStrauss.
Nonmotivated functions
The nonmotivated purposes of art are those that are integral to being human, transcend the individual, or do not fulfill a specific external purpose. In this sense, Art, as creativity, is something humans must do by their very nature i.e., no other species creates art, and is therefore beyond utility.
Basic human instinct for harmony, balance, rhythm. Art at this level is not an action or an object, but an internal appreciation of balance and harmony beauty, and therefore an aspect of being human beyond utility.Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons, theref |
ore, starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth to Poetry. Aristotle
Experience of the mysterious. Art provides a way to experience one's self in relation to the universe. This experience may often come unmotivated, as one appreciates art, music or poetry.The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein
Expression of the imagination. Art provides a means to express the imagination in nongrammatic ways that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language. Unlike words, which come in sequences and each of which have a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings that are malleable.Jupiter's eagle as an example of art is not, like logical aesthetic attributes of an object, the concept of the sublimity and majesty of creation, but rather something elsesomething that gives the imagination an incentive to spread it |
s flight over a whole host of kindred representations that provoke more thought than admits of expression in a concept determined by words. They furnish an aesthetic idea, which serves the above rational idea as a substitute for logical presentation, but with the proper function, however, of animating the mind by opening out for it a prospect into a field of kindred representations stretching beyond its ken. Immanuel Kant
Ritualistic and symbolic functions. In many cultures, art is used in rituals, performances and dances as a decoration or symbol. While these often have no specific utilitarian motivated purpose, anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning within a particular culture. This meaning is not furnished by any one individual, but is often the result of many generations of change, and of a cosmological relationship within the culture.Most scholars who deal with rock paintings or objects recovered from prehistoric contexts that cannot be explained in utilitarian ter |
ms and are thus categorized as decorative, ritual or symbolic, are aware of the trap posed by the term 'art'. Silva Tomaskova
Motivated functions
Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change, to comment on an aspect of society, to convey a specific emotion or mood, to address personal psychology, to illustrate another discipline, to with commercial arts sell a product, or simply as a form of communication.
Communication. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not be scientific. Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art.Art is a set of artefacts or images with symbolic meanings as a means of communication. Steve Mith |
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