Farid Rasulov LIVE, CASPIAN! Curated by Sitara Ibrahimbayli October 30, 2026 – January 15, 2027 Otaq Gallery Old City, Saftar Guliyev 7 Farid Rasulov’s exhibition approaches the Caspian as a contested habitat, shaped by the interdependence of species and the cumulative consequences of human intervention. Through representations of seals, pelicans, sturgeon, and coastal vegetation, the paintings examine the conditions under which life persists within an increasingly unstable environment. Ecological disturbance becomes legible through spatial relationships: nests separated from sustaining wetlands, animals gathered along exposed shores, fishing nets interrupting aquatic habitats. These encounters implicate the landscape tradition itself, questioning the apparent availability of nature as a subject for human observation and possession. The Caspian emerges as an inhabited territory whose deterioration redistributes the possibilities of survival. Scenes of abundance introduce a temporal ambiguity. They may evoke remembered conditions, depict surviving habitats, or anticipate an ecological recovery that remains uncertain. Their significance resides in this unresolved status. Flourishing becomes a proposition against which the present can be assessed, exposing the distance between the persistence of individual species and the integrity of an ecosystem. The imperative Live, Caspian! addresses the sea as a subject of ethical concern. Its urgency gives the exhibition a political dimension: the continued existence of these habitats depends upon how responsibility is assigned, resources are governed, and competing claims to the sea are negotiated. Short Description: LIVE, CASPIAN!, a solo exhibition by Farid Rasulov curated by Sitara Ibrahimbayli at OTAQ Gallery, examines the Caspian’s fragile ecosystems through paintings that explore the interdependence of species and the human decisions shaping their survival.