IRCICA’s activities at the OIC Culture Festival, Baku 2025

“OIC Culture Festival: Baku Creative Week 2025” was opened by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Mr. Adil Karimli and OIC Assistant Secretary General for Cultural, Social and Humanitarian Affairs Ambassador Tarig Ali Bakheet on 8 December 2025, with the participation of ministers of culture from several OIC member states and over 5000 senior officials and guests from around the world. The festival featured lectures, visual and performing arts, music, cinema, photography, culture&tech and digital exhibitions over the week. IRCICA Director General Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç addressed the panel on “Culture of Islamic Countries in the Digital Age” on 8 December 2025. The applied workshop conducted by IRCICA’s calligraphy professor Efdaluddin Kılıç and the exhibitions of calligraphy and historical photographs of Azerbaijan from IRCICA archives, drew interest. In his address at the panel, Professor Kılıç said that since the first century of Islam, interaction between Islamic civilization and the cultures of Azerbaijan has been mutually enhancing, and the idea of intercultural dialogue emphasized in Azerbaijan is rooted in history; furthermore, its literature, fine arts and music display a rich variety of typical genres with lyrics conveying common values of humanity. Prof. Kılıç gave information on the activities conducted by IRCICA in cooperation with Azerbaijan in the past years to highlight these aspects of culture; these activities have included two conferences in IRCICA’s series titled “Islamic Civilization in Caucasia” and the Baku handicrafts festival. From the OIC side the panel was also addressed by Dr. Lhoucine Rhazoui, Director of the Department of Culture at the OIC General Secretariat, and Dr. Ameth Diallo, Director of the Office of the OIC Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), Dakar. The previous OIC Culture Festivals were held in Uganda, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Tajikistan, where IRCICA had likewise contributed with various types of activities.